Masters of Johto
by Rayquaza45
Summary: The Battle Tower in Olivine City is having a tournament. Ash, Gary, Brock and Dawn decide to enter. As they arrive and compete they meet challengers, both new and old, including one girl Ash and Gary haven't seen since they left on their pokemon journies.
1. Finding out

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters in this story.

Rayquaza45: Hey there. This is my first ever fanfic. I'm just starting out so constructive critism is appreciated.

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**Chapter 1: Finding out**

A raven haired teenager woke up late on a Friday, feeling completely exhausted from the surprise 14th birthday party thrown for him during the previous night at his friend and former rival, Gary Oak's house. Proud of his recent accomplishments in the Sinnoh region, Ash Ketchum of Pallet town had come home two weeks prior. His mother Delia, Professor Oak, Gary himself and Tracy Sketchit had all been at the party, along side the teenage trainer's most recent traveling buddies: Dawn Berlitz and Brock Harrison. Not to mention all of their pokemon. The party had gone on till early in the morning and involved some questionable activities while Delia Ketchum and the Professor had left to attend to some business in town.

It's didn't exactly help that Gary's 14th birthday party had run a similar length just one day prior and had involved even more questionable activities. Not having adults in the house was awesome. Strange that it happened on two consecutive days. Ash tried to get out of his bed while exhausted, resulting in him falling on his ass. The pain quickly put him in an alert state of mind. Quickly brushing his teeth, taking a bath and getting dressed, Ash got ready to chow down. He ran downstairs, almost tripping on the stairs on the way.

"Hey, mom?" Ash said quietly while looking around. There was no response. "Strange."

His mother was nowhere to be seen. Her trusty Mr. Mime had also vanished. Ash put his shoes on, assuming that his mom had gone out. Suddenly, Pikachu came up to him.

"Hey Pikachu. Do you know where mom went?"

Pikachu simply pointed out the large building that could be seen from the window: Professor Oak's lab. Dawn had been staying there since Ash had finished up in Sinnoh two weeks prior. Brock had visited his own family and returned for the party the previous day. He left once again late in the night after an emergency in the Pewter City gym required his immediate attention. In contrast, Dawn's intention was to travel Kanto for pokemon contests as Ash's friend May once did. Her 12th birthday had already passed by just before the group finished up in Sinnoh; it was unfortunate that she didn't get to spend it with her family, having been far away from her home in Twinleaf Town. As to the accomplished pokemon trainer: he didn't have an immediate plan regarding where to go next on his journey and was just biding his time till something came up. Grabbing his belt containing his pokeballs and putting on his coat, he exited the house.

* * *

After a nice, brisk walk uphill, Ash had reached the lab of Professor Samuel Oak. Opening the door, he saw the pokemon watcher known as Tracy and his mothers helper, Mr. Mim. They were sweeping the floors almost as if they were in competition with one another. Mr. Mime tripped himself on his own broom

"Hey Ash!" Tracy called out from across the room "I thought you'd be out cold after last night."

"I heal quickly." Ash smiled. "Is my mom here?".

"She sure is. She just came early on but Professor Oak hurt his back and she insisted on making him breakfast" he explained.

"Thanks. I'm going to go look for her."

Tracy waved goodbye and turned to Mr. Mime.

"You tripped first. Now you have to go feed all the pokemon." He said, holding out his broom.

While looking for his mom, Ash stumbled into the Professor's living room where Dawn and Gary where watching TV.

"Ash!" Dawn exclaimed after noticing him.

"Hey Ash." Gary said after noticing the same.

"Hey guys! What's going on?"

"Just watching some show. It's taking place in the Johto region this season." Gary answered.

Dawn looked puzzled, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard my mom was here so I came by." Ash explained, hoping to get information as to her whereabouts.

"Yeah she's here." Gary informed him "She's been in the kitchen for a while."

"Thanks. I'm gonna go look for her."

Ash quickly exited the room, running towards the kitchen, crossing the newly swept floor and nearly tripping.

"Gary? When should we tell him about it?" Dawn asked.

"After he has nothing else on his mind." Gary answered.

"We've got all the time in the world then."

After searching for several more minutes Ash managed to find his mother and the Professor in the kitchen.

"Mom?" Ash questioned as he entered the room.

"Oh, my!" Delia exclaimed as she turned around "Ash what are you doing here?"

"I woke up and went downstairs but you weren't home."

"Well I came by to return something I borrowed from the professor yesterday but when I'd found out he'd hurt his back I stayed to make him breakfast." She explained. "I thought you'd be sleeping in since you were so tired after the party."

"Uhh…yeah". Ash said with a mild blush on his face. His mom could never know what happened when she was gone.

So an hour later, Ash had eaten, Mr. Mime had fed the pokemon and the three trainers were in the living room watching TV.

"Hey Ash." Gary started "There was something me and Dawn wanted to tell you."

"What was that?" Ash pondered.

"It's about an advertisement we saw while watching TV." Gary explained "In Olivine city….."

"Hold it!" Ash quickly responded as something appeared on TV "Is this that ad?"

"Yeah! This is the one." Gary laughed.

* * *

Two men with their entire bodies shrouded in shadow appeared on the screen.

"Join us for the 'Battle Spirits Tournament' in the Olivine City Battle Tower located in the Johto region."

The man stepped out of the shadow revealing himself to be Tucker, the Dome Ace of the Kanto Battle Frontier.

"A contest available to all aspiring trainers under the age of 19. Opening in one week. The winner receives a fabulous prize."

The second man stepped out of the shadows revealing himself to be Wallace, the champion of the Hoenn Elite Four.

"Battle the best." exclaimed Tucker.

"Stand out from the rest." exclaimed Wallace.

"Head straight for the top of the pokemon world." both Tucker and Wallace said simultaneously.

* * *

"Whoa!" Ash yelled as he jumped out of his seat. "I've gotta enter this thing!"

"I'm coming with you Ash."

"Gary? I thought you ended your pokemon trainer days to become a researcher." Ash said sounding surprised.

"Yeah. I decided that after the Silver Conference." Gary explained. "But sometimes I still get the urge to battle."

"I understand that urge completely. Battling livens up the most boring of times and it's recreational." said Ash.

"Yeah. And I suppose kicking your butt wouldn't exactly be the worst thing in the world." Gary quipped.

"Don't bet on it" Ash smirked.

Dawn the suddenly stood up and got between the boys.

"I'm going too." Dawn announced. "This sounds like an awesome opportunity."

"If they're going to the trouble of announcing it on TV then the prize must be worthwhile." Ash suggested.

"Then I guess there's only one thing left to do." Gary added.

"What would that be?" Ash asked.

"We've gotta decide which pokemon we're taking with us." Gary stated.

"I guess since it's a tournament I should just use the pokemon I already have here at the lab." Ash decided.

At that moment, Professor Oak walked in as if he had been listening in on the conversation the whole time.

"Ash, Gary, Dawn." the Professor started "Why don't you guys make your decisions and then head to Olivine to register."

"That sounds good." Ash's mom said as she entered the room.

"I guess that makes sense." Ash admitted.

"Then let's get down to it." Gary said as he headed towards the outside research field.

"Hey Gary! Wait up!" Ash shouted as he gave chase.

"Oh boy." Dawn exclaimed in frustration as she followed them.

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Rayquaza45: So what do you think? This is my first ever attempt at writing fanfiction. I'm doing the best I can. I'd like to thank Gerbilftw for helping me so much. REVIEW PLZ :)


	2. Getting there

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it!

Rayquaza45: Hey. Yo. What's up? Rayquaza45 returns with a brand new chapter for y'all to read. Please write a review and make me happy :)

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****Chapter Two: Getting there**

Ash simply looked at the screen of Professor Oak's computer screen. "Man!"

Dawn was puzzled. "Ash, what is it?"

"I've got so many pokemon here it's hard to decide who to take to the Battle Tower. I've got Sceptile, Totodile, Quilava, Snorlax, Muk and so many more. But I wanna keep Pikachu, Torterra, and Infernape on my team too. But I can only have six."

Gary reentered the room, having heard the conversation while he was in the field.

"Ash the tournament is divided into round. It's almost like the Silver Conference." he explained.

Ash just looked at him. "So what's your point?"

Gary smirked. "My point is this; you can contact Grandpa here between rounds and make any changes you want."

"You mentioned doing something like that in the Kanto Battle Frontier, right?" asked Dawn.

"You're right, I did!" Ash realized "I guess I can do that again. So all that's left is for me to choose who I'm starting with."

"Good to know." Gary said "I'm going back out. I've got so many pokemon it's crazy!"

Dawn smiled. "See you later. Good luck. I've already made my choices!"

"Dawn, I don't mean to be rude, but you only have six pokemon." Ash quietly reminded her

She looked pretty offended. "Well excuse me for not running around four different regions of the world!"

Ash closed his eyes and started waving his hands, "Okay, sorry Dawn, I didn't mean it like that! I'm just a little tensed."

Dawn suddenly calmed down. "Well have you made any progress…yet?"

Ash seemed almost down. "Not yet. I'm gonna go to the field and see all my pokemon."

Dawn ran off. "I'll see you later. I'm gonna go pack."

* * *

Ash went to the field, hoping to make a decision regarding his team. Pikachu, Torterra and Infernape were already set in stone but three more spots had to be filled. The question was all about which pokemon could guarantee a powerful team? For example: should he take the fully evolved Sceptile who nearly defeated a legendary pokemon, the affectionate Bayleef from Johto who had held its own against his Charizard in its base form or Bulbasaur, his third overall capture with whom he'd endured so much? Choosing like this was almost like choosing his favourite child, in theory only. Upon entering the field, Ash was surprised to see all of his pokemon there. Smaller ones like Bulbasaur, Totodile and Cyndaquil were in the front while larger ones like Snorlax were fully visible, even from way in the back. Clearly, they were happy.

Ash smiled. "Hey guys, been a while right?"

All his pokemon started cheering, rejoicing that their trainer had returned to see them. Overhearing Gary and his pokemon must have made them assume that Ash was coming. Bayleef even tried to attach itself to Ash, clearly forgetting, once again, that it was no longer a Chikorita and was, thus, too big for that. Fortunately for Ash, he'd managed to get Bayleef to stop.

"Hey guys, the Johto Battle Tower in Olivine City is having a tournament and we're entering!" Ash announced

They all started cheering yet again; it was devastating for Ash to think that some of them may never be used in the tournament.

"I can only take a few of you now, I'm sorry guys." he said.

Strangely, none of them seemed too upset. Sure, they weren't cheering anymore but that's because they were listening to him. Did they really not care? Did they just want their trainer to enjoy more success? Sure, it was possible that they know they couldn't all go first but here was more than that. Did they believe Ash would later trade someone back to the lab in exchange for one of them? One way or another, Ash needed to make his decision. But before that, others needed to come out as well.

Ash raised three pokeballs. "Buizel, Staraptor and Gible: come on out!"

The three Sinnoh natives joined the others. Gible settled himself next to Donphan and Muk. Staraptor flew up to the tree where Noctowl and Swellow sat perched. Buizel, who had lightened up his attitude towards others, stood between Snorlax, Heracross and Corphish.

"_Now it gets tough." He thought to himself._

Ash's primary method of selection was opponent analysis. Since Dawn and Gary were both competing it was possible that he'd probably be facing one or the other at some point. With both of them having chosen water pokemon as their starters and Dawn only having six pokemon, thus necessitating her usage of Piplup, Ash decided to choose Sceptile as his 4th pokemon.

Feeling that versatility would be required in the tournament, Ash chose his largest pokemon, Snorlax as his 5th. teammate. Finally it came time to choose his 6th and final pokemon. After much deliberation, Ash went with his Glalie. Ash called all his pokemon into their old pokeballs and returned to the inside den where Dawn and Gary were waiting for him.

"Ash! Dawn and I finished packing. After you finish, we go to the edge of town board the ferry to Olivine." Gary said

Ash simply nodded. "I got it. But I gotta go home to pack."

Professor Oak, Tracy, Mr. Mime and Delia all entered the den.

"Good luck to you all. You're free to exchange pokemon during any point at which you get the chance."

Ash and Gary both nodded. "Thanks Professor." "Thanks Grandpa."

Dawn held off on her goodbyes for just a minute. "Professor. What are the rules of this tournament?"

"Oh yeah." Ash said in his clueless voice. "The commercial never mentioned any."

The Professor seemed dazed. "I'm not actually sure. But you can surely enter. You can find out all the rules when you get to the Battle Tower."

Ash subsided. "I guess that makes sense. Well anyways I've gotta go pack!"

"Dawn and I are gonna go back with him too." Gary announced.

"Bye!" Dawn said as the three of them ran downhill back to Ash's house.

"Those three have the potential to go all the way in this tournament. It's a shame that there can only be one winner."

"Sure. But the fact that there can only be one winner encourages them to work that much harder, Professor."

He nodded. "I suppose you're right, Delia."

* * *

Back at Ash's house, Ash began frantically running around his house, trying to find all of his things. Packing up his clothes, cleansing products, Ipod and various other items he headed back downstairs where Gary and Dawn waited.

"Ready?" Gary and Dawn asked simultaneously.

"You know it. Let's head out to Olivine."

At just that minute, Ash's front door opened wide, he'd forgotten to close it.

"Hey! Aren't you forgetting about me?" a familiar voice asked.

The sun was blocking his direct figure but it was clear that he was a tall male with spiky hair and carried a large bag.

"I found out about the tournament back home. My emergency is solved and I'm going with you."

The figure walked closer into the house, revealing himself to be…

"Brock!" All three shouted at the same time.

"Hey guys." He said calmly.

"You're coming with us?" Ash asked.

"That's right." He said.

"_There's no way I'd miss out on the chance to see Jasmine again! Oh and the tournament too."_ _He thought to himself._

"Okay well let's head to the port. We'll get the ferry and head to Olivine" Gary said.

"This is it! The start of an all new journey!" Ash said. "Let's go!"

* * *

It was a short walk from Ash's house to the pier. On the way, Brock explained that he took some of his pokemon back from the Pewter Gym. His father had assured him that the gym world work with his own pokemon during such time. Brock had taken back his Steelix, Crobat, Forretress and Marshtomp. But only until the tournament was over since he had to return them to the gym. In addition, he had kept his Sudowoodo and Croagunk. Soon after, the gang had arrived at the pier.

"I'll get the tickets." Gary said.

Ash's stomach growled. "I'm gonna get something to eat. Anyone else want something?"

"No. I'm good" all three said at once.

"Suit yourselves." Ash said as he ran to the local PokeMart.

"So Brock…" Dawn started. "What do you think we can expect to find at this Tower?"

"The Battle Tower is a place where Trainers can go to compete against each other. It's like any battle but it has various facilities that are used during the battles, like water arenas and arenas for flying types." Brock explained.

"That makes a lot of sense. So what do you think the prize is?" she asked.

"I dunno. But I bet it's awesome."

* * *

Brock suddenly delved into a fantasy in which he won the tournament.

Wallace walked up to him in order to congratulate him.

"Congratulations, Brock. You have won the Battle Spirits Tournament."

Tucker then walked up to the podium and stood next to Wallace.

"Here is your prize Brock. Go on take it."

Brock looked astounded. "Is that….?"

Tucker smiled. "Yes Brock. That is a Master Ball."

Jasmine, the Olivine gym leader, walked up to the podium as well.

"Congratulations, Brock." She said prior to giving him a kiss on the lips.

* * *

Back in reality, Brock was staring into space with his usual love-struck look.

Dawn started poking him. "Hellooooo. Earth to Brock."

Brock suddenly snapped out of it. "I'm sorry Dawn. I was just wondering what it'd be like to win."

She smiled. "I totally get that."

Gary suddenly returned. "Hey guys, I got the tickets. Isn't Ash back yet?"

"Heyyyy. Wait for me." Ash called out as he ran back to the group.

"Relax Ash, we won't leave you here." Brock stated.

"Well that's a relief. So let's get on board."

* * *

At 4:45pm the group boarded the ship, Ash ran first in while Brock followed him. Gary and Dawn went in after, with Gary noticeably putting his hand around Dawn's shoulder. The ship was actually a medium sized vessel with all the necessary safety equipment. There were a handful of other people on board but none of them seemed to be pokemon trainers.

Ash looked around, usually being the last to notice most things. "We must be on a pretty small ship."

"Yeah, I guess. But I thought that we'd see at least a few trainers here." Brock said.

Dawn smiled. "That just means we don't have to fight. Let's take it easy for the next few hours."

"Yeah guys, take it easy" Gary said while spiking up his hair even more. "Dawn, wanna come with me?"

"You know it." She said as she grabbed his arm and they both went into the group's cabin.

Brock seemed puzzled. "Are those two still at it?"

"Yup." Ash said. His voice was filled with annoyance.

"It's getting tiresome to hear about it." Brock responded.

"Try spending hours and hours guarding the door in the middle of the night. On your birthday!"

* * *

Late in the night, at around 9:30pm, the ship had reached Olivine City. Ash, Gary, Dawn and Brock headed directly to the Battle Tower so that they could register early.

"We're go to the pokemon centre afterwards for the night." Ash said.

As the group entered the tower, they noticed large support pillars, couches where other trainers were writing stuff down and several receptionists at the counter. Ash approached the desk.

"Hello. We're here to register for the 'Battle Spirits Tournament'." Ash proclaimed.

"Okay." The receptionist said. "I'm going to need you to submit your trainer's licenses and fill out these forms."

"Got it." Ash replied as he took the forms for himself and the gang. The rest of them submitted their licenses too.

By 10:10pm, Ash, Dawn, Gary and Brock had filled out their forms and handed them to the receptionists. The gang obtained their tournament ID cards, took back their licenses and prepared to exit the tower and return once the tournament was to begin. They started to walk, but as they approached the door, a girl entered the building and blocked the single door entrance. She apparently wanted to get their attention.

She was a teenage girl with blue eyes and a slender body. She wore a turquoise shirt, a red skirt and a white hat, green socks and white shoes. She had long brown hair that went down to her elbows and a golden colored bag draped around her shoulder.

"Hi Ash. Gary." She said. "Hope you haven't forgotten me."

"_Who is she?" Gary thought. _

"_How does she know me and Gary?" Ash thought._

As the boys just stood there, not saying anything, the girl sighed.

"Maybe this'll help." She then took off her hat.

Ash and Gary suddenly got a look on their faces, reminiscent of seeing a ghost.

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Rayquaza45: So who do you think this mysterious girl is? How does she know Ash and Gary and why don't they know her? And just as important: what does she want? Please review my story! If you don't it'll damage my self esteem :(

Bye.

P.S: Stay tuned for the next chapter.


	3. Familliar Reunions

Rayquaza45: Hey there people. Chapter 3 is now available for you to read. I know it took a little longer than you'd like but you got in in the end, right? So please read the story and write a review, I need more reviews or Chapter 4 is likely to be delayed. Seriously. If you don't review my story it'll damage my self esteem :(

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of its characters.

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**Chapter 3: Familiar Reunions**

"LEAF!" Ash and Gary said simultaneously.

"Took you long enough." She said with a heart-melting smile on her face. She put her hat back on.

Gary came out of shock and looked right at her. "You've really changed your look."

Ash suddenly hung his head down low and stayed silent. Gary was clearly happy to see her and got up in the front.

"Dawn. Brock. This is Leaf Green; she grew up in Pallet Town alongside me and Ash." Gary said.

"Hey there Leaf. My name is Dawn."

"I'm Brock and…..you know what, never mind."

"Nice to meet you guys." She said with that same smile.

"So Leaf, how long has it been since we've seen each other?" Gary asked.

Leaf pondered the question, even she didn't know. "Since before we left on our journeys."

Gary shrugged. "So what have you been doing all these years?"

"I traveled through Kanto first. After that, I went to Hoenn and then Sinnoh. Now I'm collecting Johto badges for the Silver Conference. I just got my 6th from the gym leader here. I found out about the tournament so I decided to enter!" She replied.

"You traveled to Hoenn before Johto?" Gary asked.

"Yeah." She said. "Everyone goes to Johto after Kanto, but I wanted to be different."

Gary smiled. "Yeah that's definitely something different."

"Thank you." She said.

Gary started to stare at her. "Bye the way, do you still have him?"

Only she and Gary seemed to know what he meant. "Yeah. Let's go out and I'll show you."

* * *

On the way to the empty field outside of the battle tower, everyone had something on their mind. Gary and Leaf were clearly determined to catch up with each other. It took all of Brock's restraint to keep himself from coming on to Leaf, but at the same time; even he knew better that to anger Gary. Dawn simply just wanted to get to know her better. More specifically: why had neither Gary nor Ash ever mentioned her? Ash, meanwhile, was keen to stay quiet for a while longer. Something was clearly on his mind, since he's usually the first person to talk.

Leaf took a pokeball out of her bag and tossed it into the air. "Come on out!"

The large flash of light that came out of the pokeball turned into a very large and intimidating pokemon with a….flower.

"Saur!"

"This is Venusaur. My very first pokemon." She proclaimed. "After Gary took a Squirtle, I came in and chose Bulbasaur."

As she looked around at Brock, Dawn and Gary she turned towards Ash. She noticed he was unusually silent, not at all like the boy she had once known. She suddenly showed up right in his face.

"Hey Ash! Aren't you happy to see me?" She asked.

"Whoa! Uhh…no it's not that Leaf." He replied.

"So what is it then?"

"It's nothing!"

She suddenly calmed down. "Okay that's fine….for now."

She called Venusaur back into its pokeball and turned to face the group.

"So where are you guys staying?" She asked.

"We we're just thinking about going to the pokemon centre." Gary answered.

"That's doubtful." She said. "The centre is filled with other trainers staying over for the tournament."

Dawn was totally shocked. "What? How could an entire pokemon centre be filled? Those places are massive!"

"Trainers are coming from all over to participate. The centre doesn't have anymore rooms available." Leaf explained.

Brock stood up in front and turned to face the group. "So what do we do now guys?"

Leaf got back in the front. "Let me help!"

"You know a place?" Gary asked.

"My family has a vacation house here in Olivine City." She explained. "There should be more than enough rooms for you."

"Sounds good right?" Gary said in a questioning tone as he turned to the rest of the group. Everyone, including Ash, nodded.

"I've already invited a few other trainers that I've met to stay there." She revealed. "I hope you guys don't mind."

"No we're good." Dawn said. "The more the merrier." The boys nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alrighty, then let's go!" Leaf said while running to the hills.

* * *

Leaf's family house was an elegantly designed log cabin. Leaf explained that it was complete with lights and various other technological marvels, just on the outside. Leaf opened the door to the inside of the cabin, which they saw had a fireplace, which was burning bright, a kitchen and appliances, living room furniture, and a staircase which presumably led to the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms. Just then, two people came down the stairs. Evidently, they had heard to conversations going on downstairs and wanted to see what was going on. One of the two was very easily recognized.

It was a girl wearing an emerald green bandana, an orange and red orange sleeveless T-shirt with a black collar, black bike shorts, black socks, and red and white sneakers. She also had a green purse attached to her waist in addition to her belt.

Ash, Dawn and Brock were flabbergasted. "MAY!"

"Oh wow." She said with a totally amazed look on her face. "Ash. Dawn. Brock."

Ash suddenly came out of his emotionless shell and smiled. "This day is just one surprise after another."

Leaf looked puzzled. "You guys know each other?"

"That's right." Ash started. "I traveled the Hoenn region alongside May."

"Are you guys here for the tournament?" May asked.

"You know it!" Ash replied.

Gary stepped up. "Ahem. Ash, aren't you going to introduce me?"

Ash suddenly became aware of Gary. "Oh right. May, this is Gary. I've known him since I was a kid. Now he's a researcher."

"Nice to meet you, Gary." She added.

"So are you participating in the 'Battle Spirits Tournament' too, May?" Brock asked.

"Of course. And so is he." She turned to her left, where there was an unknown boy standing. "This is Brendan Birch."

Brendan was a teenage boy. He was as tall as Gary, thus slightly taller than Ash. He wore an odd white hat with an emerald green headband, orange gloves with green wristbands attached, an orange and black t-shirt and black pants which seemed to be covered by a thicker pair of black pants that only extended to his knees.

"Birch?" Ash asked.

"That's right." He said. "My father is Professor Birch, the leading pokemon researcher in the Hoenn region."

"I've met your father, Brendan." Ash told him. "How is he?"

Brendan laughed a little. "I'm sure he's fine now."

Brock looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Well he's kinda forgetful and I had to help him out a while back." He revealed. "In fact, that's when I met May."

Dawn suddenly got excited. "Tell us about it!"

"Actually, I haven't heard this story either." Leaf said.

"Why don't we all sit down?" Brendan suggested. "It's a pretty long story."

There were three couches. One designed for three people and the other two designed for two people. Gary and Dawn sat on a two person couch, Gary pretended to be tired and put his arm around Dawn. The gesture did not go unnoticed by Ash. He himself sat down and Leaf joined him on the couch. He started blushing but Leaf didn't seem to notice. On the three person couch, Brendan sat in the middle with May on his left and Brock on his right.

Brendan leaned forward. "Well it all started about 9 months ago."

* * *

(9 Months ago)

Brendan had just come back to his home in Littleroot Town to see his father. He'd just set another record for consecutive wins in the LaRousse City battle tower. He decided to visit his father's lab just to surprise him. It was about 4:30pm. He arrived at the front door and knocked. However, instead of his father, the assistant opened up.

"Brendan?" The assistant asked. "How're you doing?"

"I'm fine." He replied. "How's my dad."

"Hum…well."

"What's the problem?" Brendan asked.

"Professor Birch went out to work with a trainer about your age." The assistant started. "But he hasn't come back yet."

"You think something might've happened?" Brendan asked.

"I hope not." He said. "But this wouldn't be this first time. I'm sure he and this other trainer might be able to handle it."

"Okay that settles it. I'm going to find him!" Brendan declared. "I'm not leaving this up to some unknown."

As Brendan ran off into the forest, the assistant followed him.

"Brendan! Your father went into the mountains!" He shouted.

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier!"

Brendan quickly turned around and headed into the mountains. The assistant didn't follow as he had to stay at the lab, but said he'd send help if Brendan called for it. Brendan's shoes, made by the Devon Co., enabled him to run a lot faster than normal and add some extra bounce to his steps. They'd gotten him out of tight spots many times before.

The mountains were inhabited by many pokemon. Most of them were harmless skiploom, mareep and ponyta. However, there seemed to be several packs of mightyena and houndour roaming the area. At the middle of the mountain, Brendan heard what seemed to be a trainer ordering their pokemon to attack. He hurried up to the spot and was horrified at what he saw.

His father was lying up against a rock, appearing to be unconscious. In front of him was teenage girl, about the same age as himself. She wore a red t-shirt with a dark blue circle around her neck, dark-blue shorts, a white mini-skirt, red and yellow sneakers, a red bandanna with a white Poké Ball print and dark-blue and white gloves.

He'd never seen a girl that cute in his life.

She was ordering her Blaziken to attack a steelix which seemed to be causing them a lot of trouble. The steelix must've been the reason for his father's condition. Despite the type advantage, the girls Blaziken seemed unable to defeat the wild steelix. Brendan came out and made his presence known to the girl. They'd never met before but she seemed happy to see him.

"What happened here?" Brendan asked.

The girl started facing him directly. "I was out here with the Professor and this Steelix attacked us!"

"Let me help!"

"Be careful. This steelix is tough." She advised.

"No sweat." He took out a pokeball at tossed it into the air. "Come on out!"

The large flash of light turned into a Swampert, the fully evolved form of the Hoenn region water-type starter, mudkip. The Swampert looked over at the Blaziken standing on its right. Both the pokemon and their trainers nodded their heads.

"We'll need to work together for this."

"I've got it!"

"Swampert! Use water gun on the steelix!" Brendan commanded.

"Blaziken! Use flame thrower!" The girl ordered.

Both attacks collided with the steelixs chest. The large pokemon apparently hadn't anticipated the attacks. Both the flame thrower and the water gun caused the steelix to go down. It seemed that it had fainted. The trainers then turned to each other.

"My name's Brendan." He said. "And you're a pretty skilled trainer."

"Thank you." The girl smiled as her eyes started to glisten. "My name's May."

Brendan put out his hand. "Well May, it's nice to meet you."

May took his hand and shook it. "You too, Brendan."

All of a sudden, the steelix came back up, angrier than ever. It seemed that the attacked hadn't knocked it out after all. Brendan, May and their pokemon looked up at the grumbling pokemon. All of a sudden it smashed its tail into the mountain side which caused a rock slide. Blaziken tried to get May and the Professor out of the way while Swampert did the same with Brendan. Blaziken, however, was not as successful. It has managed to get the Professors unconscious body out of harms way but it had sustained significant injury while protecting its trainer.

May herself was nowhere to be seen.

Brendan got up and started looking around. "May? Where are you? MAY!"

She was nowhere to be seen and her voice could only be heard in a very faint manner, as if she was a mile away. Brendan suddenly started fuming with anger. His eyes flared up and his muscles were rippling. He then turned to face the steelix.

"Swampert! Use Hydro Cannon." He yelled.

Swampert let out a massive stream of water from its mouth. Hydro Cannon was the ultimate water-type move. Steelix, being part ground-type, was susceptible to this amazingly powerful attack. The steelix couldn't defend itself and was knocked out instantly.

Searching around, May was discovered to be buried underneath Blaziken who himself was under a pile of rocks. He noticed that her clothes had been pretty torn up, but he opened his backpack and knew exactly what to do. Brendan called the assistant, telling him that he'd found the professor and that other trainer who had accompanied him prior to helping May. By the time the rescue team arrived, Brendan had finished and May and Professor Birch were taken away.

May awoke in a hospital room all alone a few hours later. She was wearing a very strange set of clothes. They had a very small resemblance to the ones she was previously wearing but they were obviously not the same. Though the clothes were admittedly comfortable and well designed, she hated to think of how she came to be wearing them. Brendan entered the room soon after.

"Brendan?" May asked. "What happened?"

"Long story short." He started. "The wild steelix attacked us again and knocked you out. I took care of it and turned my attention to you. Your clothes had gotten torn up in the damage so I altered my own unworn spares to make you a new outfit. I hope you like it."

May smiled. "Yeah. They're great. Thanks so much."

"You're welcome." He replied.

The next afternoon, Professor Birch and May were all healed up. The professor thanked Brendan and May prior to going back home to see his wife. May and Brendan spent the next several hours talking. Soon after it was time for them to go. May was going to Johto to participate in pokemon contests and had only stopped in Littleroot Town to meet the professor. Brendan was on his way to Sinnoh in order to set more battle tower records. After all, he was a competitive trainer. May mentioned that her old traveling buddy, Ash, told her that he was going to Sinnoh as well. Though alas, he and Brendan never met.

After exchanging their goodbyes and phone numbers, May and Brendan parted ways. They made sure to call one another as much as possible though they knew that they would one day meet up again. But until such time, calling would have to due. This may very well have been the start of a long distance relationship.

* * *

(Back in the present)

"After I found out about this tournament, I called May." Brendan said.

"I told him I was participating and I found out that he was coming too." May added.

Brendan started laughing. "But when we got here a few days ago we couldn't get rooms at the pokemon centre."

"Thankfully for us, Leaf let us stay here, where we've been training ever since." May said.

Leaf started giggling. "I didn't even know that May knew Ash at that point."

"So now we're all together." Dawn added.

"Best friends." Ash proclaimed. "Reunited!"

Everyone else looked happy except Brock.

"I guess that means we're all going to be competing against each other."

"Brock." Gary started. "That's the whole point of tournaments. We fight to win."

"It's not like the competition can tear any of us apart, right?" Leaf asked, already knowing the answer.

"I guess you're right." He admitted. "Maybe I'm just over thinking it."

"I'll say." Brendan said. "So the tournament starts in 6 days. I guess we're living together until then."

"Sounds like a plan." Ash said.

* * *

Leaf took everyone upstairs to show them their rooms. Since it was a large house she assumed she'd be able to give everyone their own room, though she later found out she couldn't. She turned around to face the others.

"Ok. I didn't realize this but there're seven of us and only six bedrooms. Someone has to share." She told everyone.

Gary and Brendan spoke out at the same time.

"I'll do it." They both said.

They were clearly trying to get a room for themselves and their 'others'. However, Leaf decided to humiliate them for kicks.

"You guys wanna share a room with each other?" Leaf asked. "I guess that settles it."

"Huh?"

"Wait!"

"Okay!" Leaf said. "The rest of us can get our own rooms down the hall."

Ash, Brock and Leaf went down the hall to get their bedroom of choice. They got room numbers 1, 6 and 2. May and Dawn stayed to talk to Brendan and Gary.

"I had no idea you'd share with a guy just to give us our own rooms, Brendan." May said is a thankful tone.

"Gary, I was thinking the same about you." Dawn admitted.

"Anything for you, I guess." Brendan said, trying to make the most of a bad situation.

"No problem." Gary said. That clearly wasn't his intention but Dawn seemed to think so and he just hated to disappoint her.

May and Dawn took rooms 3 and 5. That left Gary and Brendan to take room number 4. An extra bed had to be brought to the room from the basement since there was originally just one. Brendan flipped a coin to decide who got to use the big bed. Brendan lost the toss, which resulted in a fight. They were forced to go to bed soon after since everyone else got angry.

"If you try anything funny I'm going to kick your ass!"

"You too!"

* * *

The next morning was mild. Temperatures were forecasted to be in the low 20 Cs, unusual for a city with a beach.

The house was stocked with food that seemed like it could last well into next year; this only encouraged an eating competition between Ash and Gary while everyone else looked too scared to put themselves in the area. The competition resulted in a mess which Ash and Gary were forced by Leaf to clean up.

The area behind the house was relatively large. May had already mentioned that she and Brendan had been training there since they arrived so Ash decided that he would do so too. At 12:15pm, he called everyone together to discuss this.

"Hey guys." Ash started. "What do you say about training for the tournament here?"

"I've already been doing it." Brendan said.

Dawn gave Brendan an 'annoying guy' look and turned back to Ash. "But otherwise, it's a good idea."

"It shouldn't be a problem." Leaf started. "But be careful with fire-types. If you burn this place down, I'll burn you down."

Ash wondered whether Leaf was joking or not. "We'll be careful."

* * *

So now the training was to begin and continue for six days…..right after lunch.

* * *

Rayquaza45: Okay, I really don't wanna do this but I'm going to add a 'review requirement'. I'd like to see a total of 25 reviews on my story, you have all the time you need but the sooner the better. Failure to achieve this requirement will delay the release of Chapter 4 and you know I don't ever want to do that unless necessary. Please don't take this to be a bad thing cause every author wants feedback from their readers. Thanks :)


	4. Six Days Grace

Rayquaza45: Hey there people. Chapter 4 is now available for you to read. I know I said I wanted 25 chapters last time but a good friend of mine told me it was unreasonable. So there is no review limit now. Ofcourse, I still want as many reviews as I can get. I want to always know what people think of my story. Now on to Chapter 4.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Six Days Grace**

With the 'Battle Spirits Tournament' coming up soon, Ash and the gang begin training harder than ever before in order to become the victor. The prize was unknown and would likely remain so until the winner was announced. This only made everyone more eager to find out what it was.

(Saturday – In the afternoon)

Ash himself was eating lunch alongside everyone else. As had become standard since yesterday, he stayed silent when Leaf was around.

"Hey, Ash?" Brock asked, just trying to get Ash to talk. "Wanna train together after lunch?"

Ash hardly even looked up from his cereal bowl. "Yeah….sure."

May seemed concerned. "Are you feeling alright, Ash?"

"Yeah. Why?" He asked, once again, not looking up from his bowl.

May shrugged. "No reason."

Soon after, everyone had finished and left their dishes in the sink for the helper pokemon to clean.

Ash and Brock went to the outside field and released their pokemon. Ash chose Glalie while Brock chose Marshtomp.

"Glalie! Use Ice Beam"

"Marshtomp! Use Protect!"

The sapphire colored beam of ice was perfectly aimed by Glalie but the green protection barrier put up by Marshtomp prevented the attack from doing any damaged. Marshtomp smiled and danced after blocking the attack, if only to anger Glalie. Glalie, angered by Marshtomp's discourteous behavior, head butted him without Ash having given the order to do so.

Ash seemed surprised that it had done that. "Glalie!"

Marshtomp was struggling to get back on its feet. Brock didn't want to intervene just and stayed back. Marshtomp finally managed to get up and used mud shot on Glalie. Glalie started shaking around, trying to get the mud out of its eyes, and rubbed its face into a tree in order to do so. Finally managing to clear itself, Glalie used Ice Beam once again. Marshtomp tried to use protect once again, but having already used it recently, it failed and the attack was successful.

Marshtomp was knocked out immediately and recalled by Brock.

"Thank you Marshtomp. Rest for now." Brock said.

"I'm sorry about Glalie, Brock." Ash said.

"Uhh…never mind that for now." Brock answered. "I'm gonna take Marshtomp to the pokemon centre."

"Alright." Ash said. "I'm gonna stay out here with Glalie a while longer."

Back on the inside, Brendan and Gary seemed to be getting along better than before. Both being related to famous personalities meant that they had a lot in common. The expectations of them seemed to be rather high since they'd been born. Having so much in common gave them a lot to talk about and they had similar personalities. They'd been on the couch, talking.

Brendan was trying to hold in his laughter. "So then I'm like: 'Maybe we should start drinking 'hard lemonade''!'"

Gary and Brendan broke out into hysterical laughter. Gary held it in long enough to talk. "Man!"

Brendan started to calm down. "I still can't believe he told me something so pointless."

Gary started calming down as well. "Well it won't be a problem for us as long as we have girlfriends."

In the attic of the house; Leaf, May and Dawn were rummaging around to see if there was anything interesting. The attic itself had a hot tub and various other things that paled in comparison.

"Hey, Leaf!" Dawn called out. "What's in this thing?"

Dawn showed her a large metal safe. It was locked tight and required a combination as well as a key to open.

"I dunno." Leaf answered. "I've never been able to open it."

"Have you thought about forcing it open?" May asked.

"Yeah. But I don't wanna damage whatever might be in it."

Dawn looked puzzled. "So just what is in it?"

Leaf looked like she was trying to hide something. "Ohh…nothing important. Okay then. I'm gonna go downstairs."

Leaf went down the stairs as fast as she could while Dawn and May stayed there in the attic.

"That's strange." Dawn said.

"She says she doesn't wanna damage what's in the safe and yet she says it's nothing important." May proclaimed.

"What do you think it is?"

"I dunno, but let's ask Brendan or Gary to find out."

* * *

(Sunday)

After May and Dawn discovered Leaf's safe, they gave it to Gary and Brendan to see if they could open it up and discover its contents. Brock returned from the pokemon centre with his Marshtomp fully healed from its aggressive battle with Ash's Glalie yesterday. Ash himself, on the other hand, had started training with Snorlax after finishing up with Glalie.

On the outside, Ash continued to train with Snorlax. He'd set up wooden targets with Brock's help for Snorlax to punch.

"Okay Snorlax, this is an accuracy improvement test.!" Ash yelled. "Use Mega Punch on the left target."

The super heavy pokemon bellowed. "SNOOORE!" The target was easily destroyed by the powerful hit.

Back on the inside, Brendan and Gary were playing poker on the kitchen table just as something unexpected happened.

Leaf, wearing a lime green bikini, May, wearing a pink bikini and finally, Dawn, wearing a sky blue bikini came up from the basement and walked right by Brendan and Gary. They knew of the effects they'd have on them. But they said nothing.

"Okay. Now I don't need any lemonade." Brendan said after they were out of his view.

Dawn and May went upstairs while Leaf did not. Instead, Leaf took the exit that lead to the outside training area. Upon opening up the door, she noticed Ash training.

"Hey! ASH!" She called out to him.

"Uhh...yeah." He said, turning around before knowing what Leaf was wearing. "WAAHGH!" He screamed as he nearly fell.

"We're going to use the hot tub!" She said. "Wanna join us?"

Ash started stammering. "Huh? What? Me? No it's alright, I'm good."

"Okay." She said while winking at him. She then went back into the house. "I guess that almost confirms it."

"Snorlax, return." Ash said sticking out the pokemon with took Snorlax back. "Go! Sceptile!"

Sceptile started looking around and finally fixated itself on Ash.

"Sceptile. Now its time to train for the tournament." Ash said. "Use your bullet seed on the leftover targets hanging down."

As Sceptile started attacking the targets, Ash turned around to see Gary and Brendan holding the safe that Dawn gave them.

"Guys?" Ash asked.

"Ash." Brendan started. "Take this thing." He said as he handed the safe to Ash.

Ash was puzzled. "What is this thing?"

"Dawn gave it to us yesterday but we couldn't open it." Gary told him. "Why don't you give it a try?"

Ash took the safe, placed it on a tree stump near the targets and walked back towards Gary and Brendan.

"Okay I'll….." Ash said before he was cut off by the sound of branches snapping.

Brendan started looking around. "What was that?"

Gary pointed to the left edge of the house which was covered by trees. "Over there."

As the three of them and Sceptile ran to the trees, they noticed Brock's Croagunk staring up into one of them, unable to climb it. Up in the very top of the tree was Brock, moving his head all over.

"Brock!" Brendan shouted. "What're you doing up there?"

Brock started looking down at the guys. "Ohh uhh hi guys. I was just looking for something…that I lost. Yeah."

"Why is Croagunk out of its pokeball if you weren't training?" Ash asked.

"He came out by himself." Brock explained.

"But he only comes out like that if…." Ash suddenly got a crazy look on his face. "The girls are in the hot tub in the attic!"

"Brock!" Brendan shouted.

Gary started climbing the tree. "Get down from there!"

Ash pointed at the branch that Brock was on. "Sceptile! Use Leaf Blade."

* * *

(Monday)

After all the craziness of the previous day; Ash, Gary, Brendan and Brock had decided to take the day off. Brock's antics had been kept a secret from the girls out of a fear of revenge as well as being kicked out of the house, though Brock claimed that he didn't see anything. After their hot tub usage yesterday, the girls decided to train their pokemon after Ash had finished.

Ash gave the safe back to Gary and Brendan, telling them that he'd help them open it up later.

The Brock, Ash and Gary were currently sitting on the couches, watching the TV. There was an entire channel created in order to promote the upcoming 'Battle Spirits Tournament'. The programs featured on the channel often involved trainers battling and trading. Occasionally, a noteworthy trainer would come forward and battle. Brendan, meanwhile, was in the kitchen squeezing a large bag of lemons, trying to make lemonade.

The most noteworthy to date was a battle between Dome Ace Tucker's Arcanine and a Milotic owned by the Hoenn champion, Wallace. Despite the type disadvantage, Arcanine put up a good fight but in the end, Wallace won the battle. This would later be a problem as he was soon chased around by dozens, if not hundreds, of fangirls screaming and wanting to be with him, even the security force as overwhelmed.

It was a huge relief when the gang heard on TV that no Frontier Brains or Elite Four members would be in the tournament. Considering the distance between Olivine and many other cities, gym leaders were unlikely to be participating as well, with the obvious exception of Brock. Soon afterwards, Brendan joined the guys on the couch.

Brendan hung his head back. "This tournament's gonna be insane."

"But one of us is so gonna win this." Ash proclaimed.

"Settle down." Gary said. "We've still gotta find out the official rules of this thing."

"Maybe I should go back to the Battle Tower and get a copy of the rulebook?" Brock suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Brendan said.

"Pika!"

"Pikachu!" Ash said in a surprised voice. "I'd almost forgotten you were here. You've been so quiet."

Soon afterwards, Brock went to the Battle Tower. The girls soon joined the boys on the couches. Dawn and May sat next to Gary and Brendan of course, while Leaf decided to have more fun and sat next to Ash. He never did tell any of the other guys about Leaf in the bikini from the previous day, feeling that it was best that it stay a secret.

"What're you guys watching?" Leaf asked.

"It's the 'Battle Spirits Tournament' channel." Brendan explained. "There's supposed to be a special guest on the show soon."

"Who is it?" Dawn asked.

"They never mentioned who it was." Gary said. "Only that it was an elite trainer."

"Wallace and Tucker have already been there so it couldn't be them." Ash stated.

May looked around but it seemed the room was missing something. "Where's Brock?"

"He left to get a tournament rulebook" Brendan said.

"But I have one of those here." Leaf said.

The guys were all surprised. "WHAT?"

"I got it the day before I saw you guys. That was when I registered." She explained.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Gary asked.

She put on an 'isn't it obvious' look. "You never asked."

"I'm gonna go call Brock." Ash eagerly said, running to the phone and leaving Leaf on the two person couch alone.

* * *

(Tuesday)

Brock had already arrived at the Battle Tower by the time Ash called him. He decided not to waste the trip and picked up an extra copy of rulebook anyway. While there he tried hitting on the receptionist, which failed miserably as usual. Croagunk came out of its pokeball and used its poison jab on Brock as had become standard by this time. It even took the liberty of dragging him all the way back to Leaf's family vacation house. Though how it knew the directions was beyond anyone.

After calling, Ash didn't go back to the couch and instead went out to train even more. This time, he trained with Torterra. The fully evolved Sinnoh grass starter had no trouble with the extra wooden targets Ash had set up. Next up was Infernape, the fully evolved Sinnoh fire starter. Leaf's words to Ash were still ringing in his ears, he just couldn't get rid himself of them:

"_But be careful with fire-types. If you burn this place down, I'll burn you down."_

Ash took more care while training Infernape than he usually did. But in the end, Infernape's training was like Snorlax's. Good.

Eventually it became lunch time and he decided to go inside and make himself a sandwich. Inside, he saw Brendan and Gary.

"Hey, Ash." Brendan called to him across the room. "We've got extra pork. Hungry?"

Ash smiled. "Yeah. Always."

Brendan's sandwich was loaded with pork slices, sliced cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, a curiously large amount of tuna and was dripping in barbeque sauce. Gary's sandwich, on the other hand, was more basic only consisting of pork slices and cheese. Ash took a neutral approach and copied Gary's sandwich, only adding the barbeque sauce.

"Can I get you some lemonade?" Brendan asked in a mocking tone. He and Gary started snickering.

Ash had his usual clueless look on his face. "No thanks. I'm good."

At that moment, Brock entered the room.

"Hey guys." He said.

"Hey." They all replied.

Brock came up to the table and put his hand on it. "I was looking through the rulebook and I thought we should go over it."

"After lunch." Ash said.

After lunch, everyone sat on the couches in order to hear the rules. The arrangements were the same as the night Brendan and May told the gang their story, so naturally, Leaf sat with Ash and made him uncomfortable again.

"I'm just going to give you guys the basics of it all." Brock told them.

"Got it." May said.

"Okay." Brock started. "It seems that a really huge number of people signed up for the tournament. Therefore, we have to compete in a series of preliminaries before we can get to the actual fighting. The prelims are there to narrow down 32 trainers."

"How many people signed up for the tournament?" Dawn asked.

Instead of Brock, Leaf answered this. "256."

"Wow." May said. "So how is the battle segment going to go?"

"The top 16 trainers will compete in the actual tournament." Brock started once again. "32 trainers will be left after the preliminaries and it seems that the 16 trainers with the most notability will be put into the top 16."

"What do they mean by notability?" Ash asked.

Gary decided to answer this. "It means those trainers with the highest rankings in other tournaments and competitions."

"Battle Tower, Pokemon Contests, League Tournaments and all that stuff." Brendan said.

"Maybe even status." Leaf suggested.

"Could be." Brock said. "Anyway, the first battle of the top 16 is a double battle. The battles in the top 8 and the semi finals are three-on-three battles."

"And the finals?" Ash asked.

Brock's voice got slightly more serious. "A full six-on-six battle."

"Sounds intense." Dawn said.

"I wouldn't expect much less from a tournament getting this much notice." Brendan stated.

Gary then sat up. "The notability requirement must be a ploy for higher attendance."

"Alright then!" Ash got up and yelled. "I'm sure I meet the notability requirement. I won the Kanto Battle Frontier! But notability isn't gonna help me win! I'm gonna go train!"

Ash ran out of the room as fast as he could. He planned to train as much as he could.

Gary then got up. "I'm going too." He got up and followed Ash outside.

* * *

(Wednesday)

After discussing the rules yesterday, Ash and Gary went outside and trained for several hours. Torterra vs. Blastoise and a battle between Electivire vs. Infernape had taken up a lot of their training time. After they stopped to eat, Leaf had taken up the field for several more hours until it turned dark. That night, nothing happened.

On Wednesday morning, Ash was out in the field training. This time, it was Pikachu who was having no trouble against Ash's usual wooden target setup. Everything seemed okay, for now.

But the day was sure to reveal much.

On the inside of the cabin; Leaf, Dawn and May were watching the 'Battle Spirits Tournament' channel. It is said that the 'special guest' was to appear today in the afternoon. Brock, Brendan and Gary joined them on the couch later..

"Is the special guest here yet?" Gary asked.

"Almost." Leaf replied.

May started jumping up in her seat. "Here they are."

The TV host got into the middle of the screen, trying to address the audience.

"Okay, viewers." He said. "Meet our show's special guest."

The TV screen started showing an image of the Battle Tower's top roof opening up. A very small shadowy figure appeared in the distance and got closer to the screen as time passed.

At its closest, the pokemon was a Dragonite shown with its full body on screen. A pair of legs was present standing on the Dragonite's back. As the camera scrolled up, the rider could be identified as Lance; the Johto Elite Four Champion. As the Dragonite landed and Lance got off, the TV host went up to him and put the microphone in his face.

"Hello, Champion Lance!" He said in a super fast voice. "How does this tournament look to you?"

Lance swiped the microphone from the host's hand faster than he could react and proceeded to speak.

Meanwhile on the outside, Ash and the electric mouse were still training. Pikachu was tired but insisted on working harder.

"Okay Pikachu!" Ash said. "Use thunderbolt on the final target."

"CHUU." Pikachu started screaming as it launched its attack. The wooden target was decimated.

"Awesome job, Pikachu." Ash said as Pikachu came back to him. "You take a nice long rest now."

As Ash walked back towards the cabin, Gary came out.

"Hey, Ash!" He said. "Lance, the Johto Champion, is on TV."

Ash was totally caught off guard by this news. "What?"

The both ran back into the cabin, but by the time they managed to get there, it was over. Lance had already left.

"That was Lance, folks." The TV host said. "What a guy."

"No!" Ash said. "I missed it."

May got up and tried to comfort him. "He'd didn't say anything we didn't already know."

"We already knew he recently became the champion, right?" Dawn said, trying to convince Ash not to feel too bad.

"Fine."

Leaf, May, Brock and Dawn soon left the room while Brendan and Gary stayed.

"Did you get it opened?" Brendan asked.

Ash was confused. "Get what opened?"

Gary slapped himself in the forehead. "The safe we gave you!"

"Oh that." Ash remembered. "No. I don't have a key or anything."

"Well can you break it open?" Brendan suggested.

"With one of my pokemon?" Ash asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll do it tomorrow. I'm finished for the day."

"Good cause the girls and Brock already went outside to train."

* * *

(Thursday)

Forgetting what he told Gary and Brendan yesterday, Ash went outside to train first thing in the morning. Sceptile was his choice to train with once again. Rather than use wooden targets, Ash set up several empty aluminum cans in a row.

"Okay Sceptile." He said. "Try to use a single bullet seed on each can without missing."

"Sceptile!"

All cans were knocked down with a single bullet seed without one miss. While Ash congratulated Sceptile, Gary and Brendan came outside to talk to Ash.

Brendan looked mildly ticked off. "Hey. Ash!"

"Yeah?" He replied.

Gary was holding the metal safe in his hand. "I thought you said you'd help us open this thing."

"Oh yeah." Ash replied while stroking the back of his head. "Let's do it now."

Gary set the safe on a stump. Brendan, Ash and Gary all looked at the safe, each one trying to think of how to open it up.

"May said we can't damage it too badly." Brendan revealed.

Gary started inspecting it. "When we were moving it around, I didn't hear any noise. It must be pretty small and light."

Ash's face started to glow. "I've got it!"

"Got what?" Brendan asked.

"I'll have Sceptile use Leaf Blade on the very top of the safe to slice it open." He said.

Gary seemed surprised. "That might actually work."

"Let's do it." Ash yelled. "Sceptile! Use Leaf Blade!"

Sceptile's bladed arm began to glow as it approached the safe. It glided right by the safe, slicing the top of in the process. Gary, Brendan and Ash then went up to the stump and looked inside the safe.

"What is it?" Brendan asked.

Ash looked inside the safe, seeing a picture that was all too familiar to him. He decided to pick it up before Gary or Brendan could get a good look.

"Ash, what was that?" Gary asked.

"Nothing."

Brendan gave him a sarcastic look. "If it's nothing why does it exist?"

"It just does!" Ash yelled.

"Let us see it." Gary said in a serious tone.

"Leave me alone!" He screamed as he ran back inside. Sceptile and Pikachu were left on the field.

As Ash lay in bed, he set the picture on a table. Several minutes later, he heard a knock on his door.

He simply closed his eyes. "I said leave me alone."

"Ash, come on!"

"We weren't trying to hurt you, dude."

"Just let us in."

He suddenly gave up. He couldn't stay mad at them for wanting to know what was wrong with him.

"Alright come on in." He called out.

Brendan, Pikachu and Gary walked into the room. Sceptile could be seen out in the hall. Gary sat on the end of Ash's bed while Brendan sat in a chair placed up against a wall. Pikachu came up to Ash's head on the bed.

It looked unbearably sad. "Pika!"

"What was that thing you took out of the safe?" Brendan asked.

Ash had no emotion in his face. "Right to business, huh?"

"That's how I operate under these conditions."

Ash took the picture off of the table and passed it to Gary. Ash stayed where he was while Brendan got out of his chair to look at the picture. Pikachu went too. Brendan was surprised by it, but Gary had a more personal connection and remained calm.

It was a picture taken in Pallet Town when Ash, Gary and Leaf were all friends who played together on every possible occasion. In this picture they all appeared to be about eight years old and they were posing near a tree. Gary was noticeably sitting on a branch relatively high up while Leaf and Ash were standing together at the bottom of the tree. But rather than posing together, the picture showed Leaf kissing Ash on the cheek. Ash had a rather vacant expression on his face since he hadn't been expecting that. In the picture, Gary didn't seem to notice what was going on as he was staring right at the camera.

"I was right there!" Gary exclaimed. "How is it I didn't notice this?"

"You were too busy fixing your hair and trying to look cool." Ash joked.

Gary stayed silent as Brendan started smiling. "So that was your first kiss, Ash?"

"That's right." He replied.

Gary looked even more confused than ever. "So why didn't you want us to see that?"

"Well, get comfortable. This is a long story." He said.

"We're good." They both said at the same time.

"Suit yourself." He started. "So ever since I met Leaf since when we were 4 years old I'd had a crush on her. Some call it 'puppy love' but I digress. I was nervous just being in the same room as her as time went on."

"Seriously?"

"Then what?"

"Well..." He started again. "I didn't even remember the picture until we saw it today. I don't remember the basis of it or even who took it. I only ever remembered my first kiss and not even the circumstances surrounding it."

"You think she likes you?" Brendan asked.

Before Ash got a chance to answer, Gary interjected. "How can any guy know what a girl thinks?"

"Good point." Brendan admitted. "Uhh…sorry Ash. Why don't you go on?"

Ash started once again. "Even after we turned 10 and got our pokemon and went on our journeys, I still thought about Leaf on a regular basis. She was in my head all the time. I never approached another girl in my life with any kind of romantic intention since I couldn't stop thinking about her."

"For like four years?"

"That's intense."

"Yeah." He agreed. "Misty, May and Dawn are some of my best friends ever. But I've never thought of them as anything more. Or at least I've never come on to them even when I had the opportunity."

"You avoided relationships with other hot girls because you couldn't get over your childhood crush?" Brendan asked.

"Yeah." Ash replied.

Brendan just shrugged. "Well….I've never dealt with anything like that."

"Well anyway…." Ash continued. "When I saw her again for the first time in so many years everything just came rushing back in my head."

"But you didn't even recognize her till she took off her hat." Gary pointed out.

"Yeah I know. But she may very well have been wearing a full body disguise." Ash said. "The mind sticks to a first impression. I kept imagining her looking the same as she'd been all those years. When she took off the hat and I saw who she was, how different and mature she looked, I was shocked."

"So that why you've been so quiet lately." Gary realized.

"Yeah." Ash admitted. "She seems to know something about me thought. She seemed comfortable teasing me on Sunday."

"Teasing you….on Sunday?" Brendan was piecing everything together.

"In the lime green bikini?" Gary asked.

"Yeah." Ash said. "How did you know?"

"The girls walked right by us wearing them on Sunday while we were playing poker." Brendan explained.

"They used the hot tub that day." Gary pointed out. "Leaf must've come to you before going in."

"Yeah I remember the hot tub business." Ash said. "I'm sure Brock does too."

After brief laughter and several minutes of silence, Gary finally spoke up.

"I still have a few questions." Gary said. "Why didn't you want us to see the picture?"

"I just got embarrassed by it." Ash revealed. "I'm sure you can understand."

"Yeah." Gary answered. "But why haven't you ever mentioned Leaf to anyone. Misty? May? Dawn?"

"Same reason." Ash said. "Embarrassment and fear. Everyone has a few things they want to hide"

"That makes sense." Brendan said. "I know if anyone found….."

Ash, Pikachu and Gary started staring at him.

He got uncomfortable. "…..never mind."

"Whatever." Ash said. "If that's all, I think I'm gonna lay low here for a while."

Brendan nodded. "Alright, man."

"Tomorrow is the start of the tournament, Ash." Gary pointed out. "Let's do our best. Try to figure out this situation of you can."

"Okay well…" He started. "I guess we'll have to wait and see how everything unfolds."

"We won't tell anybody else about this." Gary promised. "Right, Brendan?"

"Right." He replied.

"Thanks guys." Ash said in a thankful tone. "I'm gonna call it quits for the day."

"Sure, dude." Brendan said.

Gary got off the bed. "We're here if you need anything."

"I know." Ash said. "Bye guys. And Thanks."

* * *

Brendan and Gary then left the room and Pikachu went back to Ash.

"Brendan, let's give them the safe back." Gary said. "We'll have to tell them that it was empty."

"I'd prefer not to lie to them but I guess it can't be helped." Brendan answered.

Outside, Brendan and Gary talked to Dawn and May while Leaf and Brock weren't around. The top of the safe that Sceptile had completely sliced off was welded back together.

"We didn't find anything in this." Brendan said, handing the safe back to May.

May was shocked. "Really? Nothing?"

"Yes." Gary said. "Nothing."

"That's alright." Dawn said. "Thanks for trying."

Dawn and May went back to train with Leaf while Gary and Brendan went back into the house.

"Think they know we lied?"

"Wouldn't put it past them."

* * *

Ash, laying on the bed and staring up at the ceiling, opened his mouth before any words came out.

"Tomorrow. The 'Battle Spirits Tournament' begins."

"Pika."

* * *

Rayquaza45: Okay people, so what did you think? Like it? I hope so. If you did, write a review and bug me about my story and how great you think I am for writing it. JK lol. If you didn't like it, write a review to tell me how I can improve. Till next time.


	5. The First Preliminary Round

Rayquaza45: Okay readers, I'm back. Sorry for making you guys wait 2 weeks when you're used to waiting just one but I've been studying like never before and writing this chapter didn't really fit in the schedule. This chapter was also really hard to write, more so than the other chapters. So without further ado, here is the fifth chapter. Remember to review at the end!

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any of its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 5: The First Preliminary Round**

The 'Battle Spirits Tournament' is having its preliminary rounds in order to narrow down its 256 registered trainers to the 128 of them who will go on to the next preliminary round. After having trained for a whole week, Ash and friends have arrived at the Battle Tower.

After walking up the steps, Ash jumped up onto the final one. "We're here!"

Leaf was looking all around. "I can't believe how many people there are here."

As the gang approached the inside of the tower; they noticed Tucker on a stage behind a podium about to give a speech. There were well over 200 people, which meant they must've been the trainers that would be competing. Nobody other than the registered trainers and Battle Tower staff was allowed inside since it'd get too crowded.

Ash and the gang struggled to get into the crowd before Tucker started to make his speech. Ash, Leaf, May, Dawn and Brendan made it close enough to the front while Gary and Brock had gone completely missing. As the lights faded, the room got much quieter as it was clear that Tucker was about to make a speech. Eventually, he managed to do so.

"Greetings, pokemon trainers!" He started. "You all know me, Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier."

A spotlight suddenly shone upon him after the lights went out completely.

"I'm going to get right to it. You must get a number plate from our staff. The number given out to each trainer is completely random and don't bother trying to alter it or trade it away." He warned them. "You must team up with the trainer who has the other number indicated on the plate. Your opponents will be called at the same time as you for battle. The winning trainer team will go on through to the second preliminary round."

The lights soon returned and all the trainers rushed towards the reception area to get their number. Ash managed to get to the desk but only Leaf was with him now since everyone else had apparently been lost in the crowd.

"Looks like it's just you and me, huh Ash." She said with her heart melting smile.

Ash tried his best to hide his blush. "Let's get what we came for."

Ash and Leaf managed to get their number plates soon after. Ash received number 75 while Leaf received number 110. Ash's partners' number was 122 while Leaf's was 234.

Both of them decided to wait near the entrance, since everyone started to leave they could see the rest of the gang easier from that area.

Brendan, Gary and Dawn soon came back with their number plates. Their numbers were 1, 235 and 118. The numbers of their partner happened to be 89, 44 and 256 respectively.

May and Brock arrived soon after with their number plates. Their numbers were 23 and 55 and their partners' numbers were 11 and 222. It was clear that nobody in the group teamed up with each other.

"It seems the preliminary battles officially start in 2 hours." Brendan stated. "Let's get ready."

Two hours later, everyone had found their partner. There were several rooms in the tower which meant all battles would occur simultaneously. There were no spectators in any of the rooms. Just a stadium for battle and a cameraman for the TV telecast. And a referee of course.

* * *

In one room, Brendan Birch and his partners readied themselves as their opponents did so. Brendan's partner was named Sean.

Their opponents were an unnamed boy and girl team. Sean talked to Brendan and described his style of battle as a mostly attack based strategy, something which Brendan could relate to. Soon after, the referee ordered the battle to begin.

"Each trainer will choose one pokemon to battle with." He said. "Whichever team loses both their pokemon first is out."

Brendan chose his Swampert while his partner Sean chose his Hypno. Their opponents chose a Kadabra and a Magneton.

"Okay, ready yourselves." The referee said. "Let the battle begin!"

"Swampert! Use water gun on Magneton!"

"Hypno, use confusion on Kadabra." Sean yelled.

"Dodge it, Magneton!"

"Kadabra! Counter it with psybeam."

Swampert's water gun attack was mostly avoided by Magneton, but not completely as the hovering pokemon suffered a scratch. Hypno's attack collided with the psybeam and both were cancelled it out by one another, resulting in a large cloud of dust.

Suddenly a ripple in the dust appeared and Swampert ran through and put itself in close range with Magneton. Kadabra was still blinded by the dust and couldn't see, but Brendan could.

"Swampert! Use hydro cannon!" He shouted.

Magneton was no match for the ultimate water attack being shot at point blank range and was knocked into the side of the stadium where it landed. Its trainer ran to it immediately.

"Magneton is no longer able to battle!" The referee declared.

As his partner had failed, it was all up to the other one to win. "Kadabra! The dust is clearing, use psychic!"

"Kadabra."

Kadabra's psychic attack blindsided Swampert, who was sent reeling into the ground. However, being the tough pokemon that it is, Swampert managed to get up with only minor scratches as its partner Hypno came to its side.

Brendan looked towards his partner. "Sean! We've gotta work together on this one."

"Got it!" He replied.

Soon, the dust had cleared up. Swampert stood by Hypno, facing down Kadabra.

"Kadabra! Use headbutt!" Its trainer commanded.

Kadabra bashed its head into Swampert's chest but this barely made the pokemon reel. Swampert quickly grabbed the pokemon and pushed it forward.

"Hypno! Use confusion."

Kadabra was immediately struck by the attack and knocked down. Now injured and struggling to get back up, it noticed Swampert staring at it when it did.

Brendan looked right at the injured Kadabra. "Swampert! Use hydro cannon!"

"Kadabra! Dodge it!"

The injured pokemon did its best, but simply being able to stand was a major accomplishment for it. It had no chance to dodge the powerful attack and was sent flying by it. Kadabra struggled to get back up.

"Kadabra, are you alright?" Its trainer asked.

"Kad…..abra." The injured pokemon spurted out.

"That's way too much." The trainer said. "We forfeit the battle."

"What!" His partner shouted out. "You're giving up."

"I don't want Kadabra to get hurt any further." He explained. "We forfeit the battle."

"Very well then. Kadabra's trainer has forfeited." The referee declared. "Swampert and Hypno are the winners of this round."

Sean started jumping around. "Excellent!"

Brendan simply kept quiet.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another room Ash Ketchum team up with his partner; a boy of the same age named Landon who was wearing sunglasses. Their opponents were revealed to be two unknown boys who looked astoundingly similar to one another, possibly fraternal twins. The referee soon entered to begin the battle.

"Each trainer will choose one pokemon to battle with." He said. "Whichever team loses both their pokemon first is out."

Ash sent out Pikachu while his partner sent out a Staryu, all too familiar to him. Their opponents sent out a Vulpix and a Growlithe.

"Okay, ready yourselves." The referee said. "Let the battle begin!"

Ash pointed out towards the battlefield. "Pikachu! Use iron tail on Vulpix!"

Landon lifted his sunglasses towards his forehead. "Staryu! Attack Vulpix with water gun when it tries to dodge."

Growlithe started running towards Pikachu, but that was the last of Ash's concerns for the moment. Vulpix managed to dodge the iron tail attack as expected, but when taking Landon's command into account, Vulpix was hit hard by Staryu's water gun.

"Vulpix!" Its trainer yelled. "Get back in there."

"Growlithe! Use flame thrower." Its trainer commanded.

Growlithe's powerful flames hit Pikachu at point blank range. The electric rodent was sent crashing into the ground.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled out. "Are you alright."

Staryu got in front of the injured Pikachu and prepared to defend its partner. Pikachu struggled to get up.

"Staryu! Prepare to use water pulse as they approach!" Landon said.

At that, both Growlithe and Vulpix charged towards Pikachu and Staryu.

"Don't…."

"underestimate us!"

Landon started getting smug. "Staryu, launch water pulse."

Staryu's powerful attack scored a direct hit on both Growlithe and Vulpix. Vulpix, having already taken significant damage was nearly knocked out.

Its trainer shouted out to it. "Vulpix! Hang in there!"

Ash pointed out towards the battlefield. "Now, Pikachu! While it can't fight, use thunderbolt!"

"Staryu!" Landon shouted. "Prevent Growlithe from coming closer!"

"Pikaaa….chuuuu" The electric rodent shouted out as it unleashed its famous attack, knocking out Vulpix. Its partner Growlithe could do nothing to help it, lest he be shot down by Staryu. As its trainer ran to it, the referee put up his hand.

"Vulpix is unable to battle." He declared.

Growlithe's trainer stepped forward. "Growlithe! Use take down on Staryu before it gets you!"

"Growlithe." The puppy pokemon yelped as it charged towards Staryu. The sparkling core pokemon attempted to shoot down Growlithe with water attacks but failed to score a hit and was knocked into the ground.

"Staryu!" Landon yelled. "Are you alright?"

"Pikachu!" Ash commanded. "Use thunderbolt!"

The electric rodent shot a powerful yellow strike at Growlithe, however, its speed preventing it from taking a hit.

"Landon! Is Staryu okay?" Ash asked.

Landon smiled. "Yeah, for sure."

"Great cause we need to take him down together."

"Let's do it then! Staryu, get next to Pikachu and prepare water gun!" He said. "Ash, can you make him vulnerable?"

"For sure!" Ash smirked. "Pikachu, use quick attack."

"Pika!" The electric rodent said once again, charging towards Growlithe.

"Growlithe! Dodge it!" Its trainer commanded.

"Grow!" The puppy pokemon spat as it effortlessly dodged Pikachu's attack, who was sent sliding further on.

"Now! Use flame thrower on it."

"Now, Staryu!" Landon yelled.

As Growlithe prepared to use flame thrower, Staryu unleashed its water gun attack. With Growlithe facing Pikachu rather than Staryu, it was completely blindsided by the attack. As Growlithe was being drenched, Ash looked right at Pikachu.

"Pikachu! Use thunder!"

"Pika…CHUUUU!"

Try as it did, the puppy pokemon was totally overwhelmed by the force of both attacks coming at it at the same time. Eventually, after the attacks had stopped, Growlithe fell to the ground, unconscious.

"No! Growlithe!" Its trainer yelled.

"Growlithe is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Pikachu and Staryu are the winners of this round."

"Nice job, Ash."

Ash smiled. "You too."

* * *

In another room on another of the Battle Towers floors, Brock Harrison had met up with his partner. He was a boy, slightly younger than him, named Geki. Their opponents, two male trainers, stood on the opposite side of the stadium. The referee soon entered.

"Each trainer will choose one pokemon to battle with." He said. "Whichever team loses both their pokemon first is out."

Brock chose to use his Steelix while his partner used an Ursaring. Their opponents used Pupitar and a Sealeo.

"Okay, ready yourselves." The referee said. "Let the battle begin!"

"Steelix!" Brock yelled. "Use iron tail on Pupitar!"

"Ursaring!" Geki commanded. "Use focus punch on Sealeo."

"Dodge it, Pupitar!" Its trainer commanded.

"You too, Sealeo."

Pupitar managed to successfully dodge Steelix's attack; however the ball roll pokemon, Sealeo, was too slow and sent reeling by Ursaring's powerful focus punch attack. It quickly recovered and entered close range with Ursaring.

"Sealeo! Use aurora beam!" Its trainer commanded.

The Sealeo obeyed its trainer and launched an aurora beam attack at Ursaring from close range. Ursaring held its ground and was pushed back, dragging the ground beneath it. Eventually freeing itself of the beam, it charged back towards Sealeo. At the same time, Pupitar was preparing to attack Steelix.

"Pupitar! Use dark pulse on Steelix!"

"Pupitar!" The hard shell pokemon said as it charged towards the gigantic Steelix.

"Steelix! Use iron tail if Pupitar gets close enough!" Brock shouted.

As expected, Pupitar did get close enough and was smashed into the ground by Steelix's powerful iron tail attack. The hard shell pokemon struggled to get back up.

"Pupitar!" Its trainer shouted out. "Attack Steelix again, but avoid getting too close."

"Pupitar!" The hard shell pokemon shouted as it wobbly floated towards Steelix, visibly shaken from the last attack.

"Steelix, use dragon breath!" Brock shouted. "Use it in every direction."

Steelix simply roared as it shook its head around, intending to spray the attack in so many places that Pupitar wouldn't be able to dodge. Pupitar was eventually hit by a small dosage of the attack, but no so much that it had been knocked out.

"Pupitar! Use stone edge!" Its trainer commanded.

"Pupitar!" It shouted as it charged towards Steelix, preparing to attack. Once unleashing stone edge, Steelix was visibly hurt but soon opened its eyes and became angry.

Brock suddenly became hyper. "Steelix! Use iron tail fast!"

Steelix let out a large roar and flattened Pupitar into the ground with its powerful and heavy iron tail attack. Steel, being a weakness to Pupitar, was well used and resulted in the opposing team losing one member.

"Pupitar is no longer able to battle!" The referee declared.

On the other side of the battlefield, Geki's Ursaring continued to engage Sealeo alone. Eventually, the opposing trainer realized that he was all alone in the battle now and turned his attention away from Ursaring and towards Steelix. "Sealeo! Use water gun on Steelix!"

"Sealeo!" It shouted as it unleashed a jet stream of water from its mouth that struck Steelix in the chest. It roared in pain.

"Ursaring! Use seismic toss on Sealeo!" Geki commanded.

Ursaring roared as it approached Sealeo, preparing to hopefully knock it out. Ursaring caught up to Sealeo and performed its seismic toss, having grabbed Sealeo while it was fixated on attack Steelix. The seismic toss managed to seriously injure, but not defeat, the ball roll pokemon.

"Sealeo, use head butt on Ursaring!" Its trainer commanded.

"Stop it, Steelix!" Brock shouted.

Using its immense body, Steelix cut Sealeo off before it could get to Ursaring.

"Use bind!"

Viciously squeezing Sealeo, Steelix roared and prepared to deliver the final blow.

"Steelix, release it and use iron tail!" Brock commanded.

Throwing Sealeo down into the ground, Steelix used iron tail and slammed down on the ball roll pokemon, knocking it out.

"No! Sealeo!" Its trainer said as he ran to it.

"Sealeo is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Steelix and Ursaring are the winners of this round."

"Brock, you did awesome!" Geki said, thanking his partner.

"You did really well too, Geki."

* * *

Meanwhile, in another of the Battle Towers rooms, Leaf Green had managed to defeat the opposing team easily. Their opponent's pokemon, a Rapidash and a Beedrill lay on the ground, utterly defeated by Leaf's Venusaur. Leaf's partner, a girl of the same age named Miranda and her Machop were flabbergasted by Venusaur's power.

"Both Rapidash and Beedrill are unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Venusaur and Machop are the winners."

"Leaf….that was amazing." Miranda said.

"I know. I've been power training a lot for this tournament. I'm going all the way." Leaf replied.

* * *

On another level and a different room in the Battle Tower, another battle was raging on. May's and her partner's, a girl named Kimmy. Her Blaziken and Kimmy's Vileplume had already managed to defeat their opponents Nidoqueen and only the other trainer's extremely weakened Nidoking remained.

"Nidoking!" Their opponent shouted. "Use earth power!"

"Blaziken! Use flame thrower." May shouted.

"Vileplume! Use stun spore!" Kimmy said. "Make it fast!"

Nidoking, already weakened by the battle, fell prey to the stun spore before it could unleash its earth power and before it was hurt by the flame thrower. Thus, having been paralyzed by Vileplume, it couldn't move out of the way of Blaziken's flame thrower. Nidoking fell to the ground in defeat.

"Nidoking!" Its trainer yelled.

"Both Nidoking and Nidoqueen are unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Blaziken and Vileplume are the winners."

May started jumping up and down. "We did it!"

Kimmy then jumped and put her hand up high. "Up top!"

The two girls high fived and landed back on the ground.

"We rock!"

* * *

In yet another room of the tower, Gary Oak met up with his partner. She was an attractive young girl named Sara. Their opponents entered then and the referee got ready. The cameraman struggled to get set up.

"Each trainer will choose a pokemon to battle with." The referee said. "Whichever team loses both their pokemon first is out."

Gary chose his Electivire and Sara chose her Weavile. Their opponents sent out a Pelipper and a Venomoth.

"Okay, ready yourselves." The referee said. "Let the battle begin!"

"Pelipper! Use water gun on Electivire!"

"Electivire, use protect!" Gary shouted to it.

Sara got herself into a position where she could see the entire field. "Weavile! Prepare to use night slash on Pelipper."

Using protect, Electivire was unfazed by Pelipper's attack. Pelipper, however, was left in the direct view of Weavile.

"Weavile!" Sara shouted. "Use night slash now!"

"Wea!" The sharp claw pokemon shouted as it leapt into the air to attack the frozen in fear Pelipper. The night slash scored a direct hit on Pelipper and sent it flying.

"Electivire!" Gary shouted. "Venomoth is behind you!"

"Elec?"

"Venomoth! Use signal beam!" Its trainer commanded.

The thunderbolt pokemon was unable to defend itself and sent reeling backwards, being pushed backwards while standing, dragging the ground beneath it. The attack eventually dissipated and Electivire got angrier and charged towards Venomoth.

"No, Electivire!" Gary yelled. "Attack Pelipper with thunderbolt."

Electivire was not the type of pokemon to disobey its trainer, as the Charizard of a certain rival was famous for. It eventually jumped up at Pelipper and prepared to attack.

"Weavile!" Sara shouted. "Use fury swipes on Venomoth!"

"Electivire!" Gary ordered. "Use thunderbolt now!"

Electric attacks such as thunderbolt, being super effective against both flying and water types, gave Electivire the edge against Pelipper, which was knocked out by the powerful attack. As its trainer ran to help it, the referee put his flag up.

"Pelipper is no longer able to battle!" The referee declared.

On the other side of the field, Weavile continued to attack Venomoth with fury swipes, but the poison butterfly pokemon managed to dodge all of its attempts. Electivire charged back towards its partner.

"Electivire! Use thunder!" Gary yelled.

"Elec!" It shouted as it leapt towards Venomoth and used the ultimate electric attack. Venomoth apparently had good evasion but mediocre defensive abilities. Venomoth struggled to get back up.

"Venomoth!" Its trainer shouted. "Use signal beam again."

"Venomoth!" It said as it flew towards Electivire, releasing the attack.

"Use protect!" Gary told Electivire.

"Elec!" The thunderbolt pokemon said as it used its protection attack once again, successfully.

"Now, Weavile" Sara said. "Use shadow ball!"

"Electivire!" Gary shouted. "Use thunder punch!"

Both attacks were unleashed simultaneously at Venomoth, who was too tired to dodge and was immediately knocked out.

"Both Pelipper and Venomoth are unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Electivire and Weavile are the winners."

Sara suddenly started hugging Gary, something he feared would happen.

"I have a girlfriend."

* * *

In another room of the Battle Tower, the final member of the group prepared for battle. Her partner was a boy named Ross.

"Each trainer will choose one pokemon to battle with." The referee said. "Whichever team loses both their pokemon first is out."

Dawn sent out her Piplup while her partner sent out a Hitmonlee. Their opponents sent out a Smeargle and a Ninjask.

"Okay, ready yourselves." The referee said. "Let the battle begin!"

"Piplup, use peck on Smeargle." Dawn said.

Ross pointed towards the enemy. "Hitmonlee! Use mega kick on Ninjask."

"Smeargle! Use sketch on Hitmonlee." Its trainer commanded.

"Ninjask dodge it!"

While Smeargle sketched Hitmonlee, Ninjask barely managed to dodge Hitmonlee's mega kick attack. After sketching Hitmonlee, however, Smeargle was critically hit by Piplup's peck attack and started wobbling around.

"Smeargle! Use mega kick on Piplup!"

"Ninjask! Use tackle on Piplup."

Ross looked worried. "Hitmonlee! Block Ninjask's attack."

"Piplup, use bubblebeam on Smeargle before it gets too close." Dawn commanded.

"Hitmonlee!" "Piplup!" The two partners shouted as they followed their trainers commands. Hitmonlee obeyed its orders and used its arms to hold back Ninjask before it got too close. Piplup managed to score a direct hit on Smeargle with its bubblebeam, preventing it from hurting it with mega kick. Ninjask broke free from Hitmonlee and rejoined Smeargle.

Ross looked at his partner so as to tell her something. "Dawn! We need to work together to take them down one at a time!"

"What did you have in mind?" She asked.

"Follow my lead." He said. "Hitmonlee! Use mega kick on Smeargle."

"Piplup! Run behind Hitmonlee." Dawn told it.

As the pokemon ran across the field, the opposing trainers started looking smug. "Ninjask, use leech life on Piplup."

"Take it, Hitmonlee! Jump on Ninjask afterwards!" Ross yelled.

"Hitmonlee!" The kicking pokemon said as it took the vile attack in order to defend its teammate. Jumping and landing on Ninjask prevented it from getting up to help its partner.

Its trainer looked horrified at the prospect of being unable to help. "Ninjask!"

"Piplup! Use peck on Smeargle!" Dawn said.

"Piplup!" Her pokemon said as it started pecking the funny looking pokemon and knocking it around.

"Hitmonlee, get off Ninjask now and end Smeargle with mega kick!" Ross yelled.

Hitmonlee got up, leaving Ninjask stuck in the ground. Hitmonlee was still able to get around; even after the leech life had drained it. "Hitmonlee!" The kicking pokemon shouted as it delivered a powerful kick to Smeargle, sending it flying, crashing and knocking it unconscious.

"Smeargle!" Its trainer shouted as he ran towards his injured pokemon.

"Smeargle is no longer able to battle!" The referee declared.

Now the time came for Piplup and Hitmonlee to eliminate Ninjaskfrom the battle so they could go on to the next round. Ninjask came out of the ground and returned to the middle of the field, where it met with Piplup and Hitmonlee, standing side by side.

"Piplup! Use whirlpool!"

"Hitmonlee, use blaze kick!"

"Dodge them, Ninjask!"

Ninjask, though a fast pokemon, was unable to evade the attacks of both its foes. Hitmonlee's blaze kick narrowly missed but Piplup's whirlpool attack scored a direct hit, with Ninjask flowing in the water but Hitmonlee nowhere to be seen.

Dawn struck her signature battle command pose. "Piplup! Get in there and finish off Ninjask with hydro pump."

Jumping into the swirling whirlpool, Piplup located and approached its enemy. "Piplup!" The penguin pokemon yelled as it unleashed its powerful hydro pump attack in an area already logged by water thus eliminating its opponent. Eventually the water dissipated and Piplup was left standing, unlike its unconscious opponent.

The victory came at a price, however. Hitmonlee had been knocked unconscious after taking so many hits prior to the whirlpool.

"Both Smeargle and Ninjask are unable to battle!" The referee declared. But he said nothing else afterwards.

* * *

Eventually, all battles of the first preliminary round had been fought and the time came for an announcement. A large screen, present in each room, turned on and showed Dome Ace Tucker on a platform about to speak.

"I have been informed that all the battles for this round have finished." He said. "I would like to congratulate all the trainers who have passed. Also, the second preliminary round starts now."

All over the Battle Tower, surprised trainers responded.

"The winning teammates must now battle one another with the same pokemon previously used." He said. "The winning trainer goes on to the third preliminary round. The loser will be eliminated."

Expressions of surprise and shock could be heard in all rooms of the Battle Tower. Trainers couldn't believe that after having to partner up with someone else and pass the round battling along side them, they would now have to battle against them.

"This can't be happening!"

* * *

Rayquaza45: Okay readers, so what did you think? This chapter was hard to write since it's the first one with full length pokemon battle and the method through which the battles take place was hard to decide. So please, write a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. And thanks alot to Gerbilftw. Till next time, people :)


	6. The Second Preliminary Round

Rayquaza45: Hi there readers, sorry for taking a long time getting this chapter up, but a thunderstorm knocked out my internet and I couldn't do anything about it. But, that's all in the past! The chapter is here for you to read. Please remember to review at the end of the chapter. The decreasing number of reviews I get makes me feel sad :(

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any of its concepts.

**

* * *

****Chapter 6: The Second Preliminary Round**

Ash got furious. "We've just teamed up with complete stranger! We had to set differences aside and fight to win! Now we have to eliminate our own partners to proceed?"

"That's correct." The referee said with a voice that made Ash want to have Pikachu use volt tackle on him.

"That's insane."

"You're free to withdraw if you want."

"Ash." Landon said, trying to calm him down. "That's just how it is. We have to follow through with the rules."

Ash seemed almost offended. "You're agreeing to this?"

"I don't like it anymore than you do." He explained. "But the tournament is why we're here. We need to go on through."

"Whatever." Ash conceded.

* * *

In a room of the Battle Tower, Brendan Birch, having come to terms with the rule, prepared to battle his original partner, Sean. Their old opponents had left and the match was to begin as soon as the referee entered.

"This will be a 1 on 1 match." The referee said. "Trainers must use the same pokemon used in the previous round."

Brendan sent his Swampert back out while Sean did the same with his Hypno. Their pokemon had been exhausted from the last round, why were they required to use them again?

"Let the battle begin!"

Brendan assumed an intimidating pose. "Swampert get in close and grab Hypno!"

"Hypno!" Sean yelled. "Avoid Swampert and attack with confusion when you get the chance."

"Hypno." The hypnosis pokemon said as it jumped around, trying to dodge Swampert's repeated attacks. Finally achieving the optimum degree of closeness between the two, in addition to having charged up, Hypno used its confusion. The attack collided with Swampert and created a cloud of dust around the mud fish pokemon. Eventually, the dust cleared and Swampert stood, having only been scratched and not significantly affected in any way.

"It's nothing, Swampert!" Brendan shouted. "You're close enough, use hydro cannon!"

"Swampert." The mud fish pokemon yelled as it scored a direct hit with its powerful attack, sending the hypnosis pokemon flying and eventually landing on its back.

"Hypno, get up." Sean shouted, visibly worried about his pokemon.

"Hyp…..no." It said as it struggled to get up.

"Do you wanna go on?" Sean asked, having his question met with a head nod. "Then get in close and use headbutt!"

The hypnosis pokemon ran up to its opponent in order to attack it and end the battle, only to have its headbutt attack dodged.

"Swampert! Use superpower!" Brendan commanded. Hypno turned around only to see Swampert preparing to attack.

"Swampert!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it activated its attack. Swampert's body became surrounded in a light blue aura. It then picked up a large rock and threw it at its opponent. Hypno could not stand up to the attack.

"Hypno is unable to battle." The referee announced. "Swampert is the winner and goes on to the third preliminary round."

Having recalled and thanked their pokemon, Brendan and Sean met up again in the middle of the field and parted ways after sharing a handshake.

* * *

In another room of the Battle Tower, a fight had been raging on between Ash Ketchum's Pikachu and a Staryu belonging to his former partner, Landon, with both pokemon having already sustained injuries. Despite the type disadvantage, Staryu was putting up a good fight against Pikachu.

"Pikachu!" Ash said. "Use quick attack!"

"Staryu, use water gun." Landon ordered.

Pikachu, using its incredible speed, managed to avoid Staryu's water attack and slam into it with its own attack. Staryu stood up once again but was clearly having trouble moving.

"Pikachu, Staryu can't move!" Ash shouted. "Let's finish it off with thunderbolt."

"Pika…chuuuuu" The electric mouse pokemon screamed as it launched the attack at the immobilized Staryu, sending its former partner flying, but not yet knocking it unconscious.

"It's still not down?" Ash questioned.

Landon started panicking. "Staryu, use water pulse!"

"Pikachu, dodge it."

As the stream of water chased the electric mouse across the field, its trainer came up with a final plan.

"Pikachu! Jump over Staryu!" Ash ordered.

"Pika?" The mouse said as it obeyed its trainer and jumped over the sparkling core pokemon.

"Now!" Ash started. "Use volt tackle from where you are in the air!"

"PikaPikaPika... Pi-ka" The electric mouse repeated as it slammed into its opponent with the force of its attack as well as the gravity aiding it on its way down from the air. The force of the shock was enough to knock Staryu out.

"Staryu is unable to battle." The referee announced. "Pikachu is the winner and goes on to the third preliminary round."

In the middle of the field, Ash met up with Landon. Landon having recalled Staryu, and thanking it, was feeling upset.

"It was a good battle, Ash." Landon admitted.

Ash sadly nodded. "I'm sorry it had to end like this."

"Me too." Landon said before starting to laugh. "You'd better go out there win it all."

"That's why I'm here" Ash said, clinching his fist.

* * *

In another room of the Battle Tower, Brock had engaged in a battle with his former partner, Geki. Brock's Steelix and Geki's Ursaring were less concerned about fighting their former partners than their trainers previously were and had been attacking each other relentlessly, sometimes without being ordered to do so.

"Steelix, use iron tail!" Brock ordered.

"Ursaring!" Geki shouted. "Get around it and use focus punch!"

Ursaring was not able to dodge Steelix's powerful and wide spread iron tail attack and was sent flying back into the wall, ultimately crashing into it, leaving and dent and getting knocked out.

"Ursaring is unable to battle." The referee announced. "Steelix is the winner and goes on to the third preliminary round."

Having recalled their pokemon, Brock and Geki met up at the exit of the arena.

"Thanks a lot ref." Geki, said sarcastically under his breath.

"Hey Geki, you did a good job." Brock told him.

"Well thanks for not holding back against me just cause I'm younger than you." Geki said.

Brock started laughing. "I could never teach anyone anything if I did like that."

* * *

In another room of the Battle Tower, Leaf Green had annihilated her former partners Machop.

"Machop is unable to battle." The referee announced. "Venusaur is the winner and goes on to the third preliminary round."

"I think you've got a good shot at victory." Miranda said.

Leaf smiled. "Thanks a lot, but if I'm gonna win there's gonna be a tough opponent for me to face."

* * *

In yet another room of the Battle Tower, May prepared to face her former partner Kimmy and her Vileplume with her Blaziken.

"Don't think for a second that I'm going to go easy on you!" May said.

Kimmy laughed. "I was just about to say the same to you!"

"Blaziken! Use flame thrower!"

"Vileplume, dodge it!"

Even as the blaze pokemon chased the flower pokemon around the field, continuously spraying its powerful flamethrower all around, one trainer started getting smug after her pokemon leapt over the other.

"Vileplume! Use stun spore!" Kimmy shouted.

"Vileplume." The flower pokemon shouted as it released the spores over the defenseless Blaziken.

"Blaaaaze." Mays pokemon yelled as it fell victim to the stun spore, rendering it nearly unable to move

"Blaziken!" May shouted. "Can you fight?"

The blaze pokemon nodded as it stood up and put up its fists, answering Mays question.

"Guess that paralysis isn't 100% effective!" May said. "Okay, Blaziken. Use sky uppercut!"

"Blaze!" It shouted as is rushed towards the flower pokemon is a dash of speed too fast for Kimmy to react. Both of Blaziken's fists began to glow light blue and the blaze pokemon smashed Vileplume straight into the air. Eventually coming back down, Vileplume tried to stand up but found it was unable to do so and collapsed on the floor.

"Vileplume is unable to battle." The referee announced. "Blaziken is the winner and goes on to the third preliminary round."

Later on, recalling their pokemon and congratulating each other, May and Kimmy met up with each other at the arena exit.

"If I had to lose to anyone, I guess I'm glad it was you." Kimmy said.

"Thanks a lot." May replied.

"You're gonna go far."

May smiled. "That's the plan."

* * *

In yet another room of the Battle Tower, Gary Oak had managed to annihilate a Weavile belonging to his former partner Sara. His Electivire's attacks and his own tactical skill had proved to be too much for the sharp claw pokemon to handle, who was knocked out quite quickly.

* * *

In a room of the Battle Tower that had held the battle between Dawn, her partner Ross and their opponents, a battle had been determined to be unnecessary by the referee.

"Because Hitmonlee was knocked out alongside the losers in the last round, Piplup goes on to the next round."

"What?" Dawn asked. "Can't he just choose another pokemon?"

"Unfortunately, no." The referee said.

"But that's-"

"Dawn, its okay." Ross said.

Dawn was surprised. "What are you saying?"

"I'm upset about not going to the next round. Sure." Ross explained. "But if I chose another pokemon, then Piplup would be at a disadvantage."

"It's just so unreasonable." Dawn whined. "I can choose another one too."

Ross shrugged. "That's just how it is. Good luck in the tournament."

As Ross left the arena, Dawn simply waved goodbye to him.

* * *

On the ground floor, the winning trainers were hanging out as the losing trainers had already left the tower. Gary and Leaf were the first member of the group to arrive while Ash, Brendan, Brock, May and Dawn came down afterwards. As the gang met up with each other, preparing to share stories, Wallace returned to the stage, having escaped the fangirls who chased him.

"Congratulations to the 64 trainers who have passed the first two preliminary rounds." He said.

Amidst the cheering winners, Wallace raised his hand to silence them, needing to explain more.

"Your third and final preliminary round begins tomorrow." He announced. "Please return to the Battle Tower tomorrow at 12:00 noon for the battles. A no-show will be treated as a withdrawal from the tournament."

* * *

Back at Leaf's vacation house at 3:00pm, the gang began sharing the stories of their victory. Ash explained his victory and anger towards the rules. Leaf explained her easy wins while Gary did the same, regarding his match against his partner. Despite her victory, Dawn was more upset than one would have thought, as she explained her lack of a second round battle.

"So when Hitmonlee was knocked out, the referee said Ross had to leave. They wouldn't have even let him choose another pokemon to battle me with." Dawn said.

Gary, being the one sitting next to her, put his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Piplup was already tired from the battle, if he'd chosen another pokemon; you would've been at a disadvantage." He said.

"I know but still, I could've…."

"Now you have the chance to go further on in the tournament." Gary revealed.

"I guess." She reluctantly said.

Several moments of silence later, Brock stood up and left his pokeballs on the table.

"Well, I've got some business to take care of." He said. "I'll be back later."

He left as fast as he could, not even explaining where he was going or answering anyone else's questions.

"Where's he going?" Leaf asked.

Ash smiled. "I think I have a good idea."

* * *

The Olivine City gym was run by the gym leader, Jasmine. She was somewhat of a quiet individual most of the time but she was known for being bold and serious when the time was right. After Brock entered the gym, he looked around and couldn't fine any trace of the light-brown haired gym leader.

"_Maybe she's not here."_ He thought to himself.

Just then, a figure leaped from the ceiling and right in front of Brock.

"Welcome to the Olivine City gym." It said. "I'm the leader Jasmine."

Brock simply stood there, staring at her and fantasizing.

"Hey, haven't we met before?"

"Absolutely right! I'm Brock and I have met you before in both Johto and Sinnoh and I was wondering if-"

"You're not here to challenge the gym?"

"No I'm here for the challenge of a woman's heart and nothing is here to stop me me."

"Well, you're obviously not shy."

"No and you're obviously willing to-"

"Hey. I remember you. Your name is Brock; you traveled with that Pikachu boy." She realized.

"Yes, that's absolutely right; And speaking of electric pokemon, how about I Raichu a poem an-"

"Sorry, Brock, if that's what you're here for, but the thing is, I'm already seeing someone." She said.

"What?"

"He's a guy from Hoenn who comes to Olivine City every little while to research rocks and other minerals. I met him and-"

The whole world was crashing around Brock as she spoke those words. Jasmine was half of his reason for coming to Olivine and his heart may very well have been telling him to go home. Though not by her words, but by its interpretation of the situation.

"There's no need to explain, I was just wondering if you…."

"I'm sorry if you just-"

"No need to explain anything." Brock said, his voice verging on cracking.

"Brock, I-"

"It's alright." The shut eyed trainer said as he turned his back on the gym, exiting the door and not once looking back. As he left, the light-brown haired gym leader just sighed and turned around.

"Brock, six months ago I'd….."

* * *

Back at Leaf's vacation house, Brendan was sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper. At that time, Gary walked in.

"Hey! Gary!" Brendan said. "Here we go again."

He took a page out of the newspaper and showed it to Gary.

Gary read over the ad. "Free massage…with the purchase of a bottle of lemonade?"

"It keeps showing up everywhere!" Brendan shouted. "It's like one of those numerical enigmas."

* * *

In the attic, as Leaf was searching through all the junk, Dawn May confronted her.

"Leaf." May said. "We need to talk."

Leaf was surprised. "About what?"

"We got the safe open that you showed us last week." Dawn explained. "We asked Brendan and Gary to get it open and when we got it back, the top had been welded shut. I'm guessing that they had one of their pokemon do it."

"What exactly was in that safe that'd make Gary and Brendan try to keep it a secret from us?" May asked.

Leaf put her head down. "You really want to know?"

"Yes."

"We wouldn't have asked otherwise."

"Alright, then." Leaf started. "It was a picture of me, Gary and Ash from when we were kids."

"Picture!" They both said at the same time.

"Yeah, a picture." Leaf said, not knowing why they were surprised.

"Why would Brendan and Gary try to hide that from us?" May asked.

Leaf started blushing, making her look even cuter than before. "I don't know if Brendan knew the details….but in that picture, I kissed Ash."

"WHAT!"

"You're joking!"

"No I'm not. Back when we lived in Pallet Town as kids, Ash, Gary and I were together all the time. In some ways, Ash and I were something more."

Dawn was puzzled. "Something…more?"

"I still don't believe it!" May said.

"When we were like 8 years old, we took a picture together and I kissed Ash on the cheek when he wasn't looking." She went on. "I left that picture in the safe here in the attic because I hardly ever come here and I wanted to keep it a secret."

"Being attracted to someone isn't a crime." May laughed.

"I know it's not a crime." Leaf said, while continuing to blush. "But childhood crushes are always embarrassing."

"True enough." Dawn said, reassuringly.

"When you asked me what was in the safe, I didn't want to open it so I said I didn't know to make you lose interest. Guess that worked out well, huh?"

"Not only because you said you didn't know but that it was nothing important." Dawn said.

"Did I say that?" Leaf started laughing as well.

"Yeah." Dawn said. "You didn't know what was in it and yet you said 'it' was nothing important."

Leaf covered her face with her hands. "How careless of me."

"So what else?" May asked.

"Well eventually we left on our pokemon journeys and hadn't seen each other till that night last week." Leaf said. "People gossip and say I've always been kind of a flirt, but Ash is different from any other guy I've ever known. He was always so energetic and upbeat. It was enticing, even when we were kids."

"I get that." May said.

"When I saw him again, he was just so quiet and reserved." Leaf continued. "I've been trying to bring him out of his shell, but I think I've been making it worse."

"So that's why he's been so quiet recently." Dawn reasoned. "Maybe he's just embarrassed around you. You make him feel stuff."

"That's what I thought, so I tested out that theory last Sunday and I think that my theory is pretty much confirmed when I think about it now." Leaf concluded.

"I guess it's gonna take all of us to work something out for now." May decided.

"So anyways, about the safe…." Dawn started, hoping someone else would finish.

"Well I can't exactly blame you for being curious." Leaf said. "I probably would've broken it myself if I were in your shoes."

"That's a relief." Dawn said, wiping her forehead.

"Yeah, sure, but don't break anything else." Leaf said while laughing.

"So what are you gonna do about Ash?" May asked.

Leaf smiled. "Only time will tell."

* * *

Back outside, Ash had decided to train with Snorlax. He had hung up more wooden targets on various trees and left Infernape, Torterra and Sceptile at key points near the trees.

"Snorlax, use mega punch on the target near Sceptile's tree!" Ash ordered.

"Snore!" The sleeping pokemon shouted as it powered up its attack, ready to strike at the tree.

"Now, Sceptile!" Ash shouted. "Shake it up!"

"Sceptile!" The forest pokemon said as it kicked the tree, making it shake and causing the wooden target to move all about.

"Snore?" The sleeping pokemon said as it was perplexed by the target moving about, evading its hits.

"This is the exercise Snorlax!" Ash shouted. "It'll teach you how to physically hit opponents who keep dodging."

* * *

Meanwhile, Brock returned to the house, more depressed than ever before.

"Hey, Brock!" Gary said.

"Care for some lemonade?" Brendan joked.

He simply went by Brendan and Gary, moaning all the way, forgetting his pokeballs on the table and entered his bedroom and locked the door. He lay on his bad, completely devoid of any movement.

"What's with Brock?" Brendan asked.

"Who's to know?" Gary replied.

As May and Dawn came downstairs and saw Brendan and Gary, they decided to put their plan into motion. After they had some fun with them, of course.

Dawn got right up in Gary's face. "When were you going to tell us about Ash?"

"I never thought you'd lie to us, boys." May said, tapping her foot.

"Come on." Brendan said. "We promised not to say anything, he was really shaken up."

"If he hadn't been so upset I'd have told you." Gary said to Dawn.

"Oh, Gar-"

"It'd have been the perfect opportunity to embarrass him and have some fun!"

At that, Dawn stomped on his foot. "Oh come on!"

"Hey." He responded, jumping on one foot. "That hurt!"

"So how about you, headband?" May said.

Brendan did his best to remain calm. "What is it you're looking for?"

May looked at Dawn, nodded and turned back to Brendan. "We need your help."

"You need our help?" Gary asked, still hopping around.

"How many good date spots are there here in Olivine City?" Dawn asked.

* * *

The next day, Ash and the gang went on to the Battle Tower for the final preliminary round. Brock was still as depressed as ever and nobody seemed to know why, since he avoided talking about it, reminiscent of one, Professor Ivy. As the gang entered the tower, dozens of referees stood on stage behind Wallace. It was now 12:00 in the afternoon.

"Welcome back to the Battle Tower, trainers." Wallace started. "The next preliminary round begins now. Please line up at the entrance to the stairs and one of our battle referees will take you to your arena."

Ash and the gang got to the entrance of the stairs first, reasoning that nobody in their gang could battle another one of their friends if they all entered first.

Soon, all the trainers were taken to an arena to fight. In his, Ash prepared to fight his opponent, as his friends did in their own arena, hoping they could make it into the top 16 round.

* * *

Rayquaza45: Alright people, so how was my sixth chapter? I'm seriously hoping you liked it cause I had alot of trouble with it. Battle keep getting more and more difficult to write as the story progresses. So seriously, now that you've read the chapter, please write a review and tell me how it was. I seriously want more feedback about my writing ability and if I'm presenting a good story. And from now on, I'm gonna give you hints about upcoming chapters. It may just be the title or it may even be something more that I tell you. Keep readin to find out ;)

The next chapter is the seventh one: **Chapter 7: The Final Preliminary Round**. Will the gang make it through?

Till next time ;)

P.S: Write a review, please.


	7. The Final Preliminary Round

Rayquaza45: What's up readers? Rayquaza45 is back with the 7th chapter. I don't want to sound pathetic but PLEASE REVIEW! I seriously haven't been getting that many and I want more. Even if you've reviewed before, please do so again! PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it!

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Final Preliminary Round**

"_Final preliminary round."_

Those were the words going through raven-haired trainer's head as he prepared to face his opponent. A girl with long brown hair about the same age as himself. He continued to look on at her as the referee took his podium position.

"This will be a 1-on-1 pokemon battle." He said. "Each trainer must release their pokemon at the same time as the other."

"What?" Ash asked.

"It is to prevent anyone from gaining too significant of an advantage during the battle." He explained.

"I still don't get it." Ash complained.

"We don't want someone winning just because they waited for their opponent to choose a pokemon and then chose a pokemon with a type advantage." The referee went on. "This rule will be applied in the beginning of later rounds as well."

"Scared, hat boy?" The girl across the room said.

"What the…" Ash stammered. "No way!"

"Alright then." The referee said. "Please choose your pokemon."

"Go!"

"Come on out!"

Out of the pokeballs came Ash's Snorlax from one while the girl's Marowak came out from the other one.

"Let the battle begin!" The referee said.

"Snorlax, use hyper beam!" Ash yelled.

"Marowak, dodge it!" The girl ordered.

"Snore!" The sleeping pokemon shouted as it launched the super strong attack against the bone keeper pokemon. As Snorlax's hyper beam chased the dodging Marowak around the field, crumbling the ground it went over, its trainer developed a plan.

"Snorlax!" Ash yelled. "Get in close and use mega punch!"

Obeying its trainers command, Snorlax went in close to its opponent and took aim.

"Marowak, dodge it!" The girl said.

"Oh no you don't." Ash taunted. "Snorlax's become a lot more accurate and on the mark!"

"Snore!" The sleeping pokemon said, raising its fist to attack the bone keeper pokemon who tried to dodge. Though it did so successfully, Snorlax brought its arm around and mashed Marowak right into the ground.

"Marowak!" The girl shouted. "Are you okay?"

As the injured pokemon got up, something happened….it cried.

"It's crying?" Ash asked himself, already knowing the answer.

"We forfeit the match!" The girl told the referee?

"You want to forfeit?" He asked her.

"That's right."

"Well then….since Marowak's trainer has forfeit, Snorlax's trainer is the winner and proceeds on to the top 32 trainers for consideration." The referee said.

"That was easier than I thought." Ash said as he recalled Snorlax. "Thanks Snorlax."

"Just for the record, if I'd chosen any other pokemon, I'd have won." The girl said. "And your Pikachu still looks like a little girls pet."

As the girl left the room, Ash started thinking.

"Have I ever seen her before?" Ash said. "Pikachu?"

"Pi-ka." The electric rodent said.

"Alright then. I hope everyone else made it through."

* * *

In another room of the Battle Tower, emerald headband boy, Brendan Birch faced off against his opponent. A boy about the same age as himself who wore a black belt. His oponent was fighting with a Hitmontop against Brendan's Aggron.

"Aggron, use rock smash!" Brendan yelled.

"Dodge it Hitmontop!" The kid commanded.

"Don't count on it!"

As the handstand pokemon attempted to dodge the rock smash unleashed by the iron armor pokemon, it found itself falling on the floor after slipping on a jagged rock.

"Never lose sight of your surroundings!" Brendan taunted. "Do it, Aggron!"

"AGG!" The iron armor pokemon yelled as Aggron's claws on one of its hands started glowing white and it smashed the handstand pokemon with it, smashing it even further into the ground and causing it extreme pain.

"Hitmontop, you have to get out of there!" Its trainer yelled.

Managing to free itself from the ground, Hitmontop returned to its trainer's side on the field.

"Okay Hitmontop, use headbutt on it!" Its trainer commanded.

"Hitmon-top-top-top!" The handstand pokemon repeated as it smashed its head into Aggron's side, causing no damage at all.

"Normal moves aren't very effective against Aggron." Brendan said. "How'd you get this far without knowing basic strategy?"

"Shut up!" The kid screamed. "I'll teach you about basic strategy! Hitmontop, you're close enough, use focus punch!"

"Aggron, use hyper beam!" Brendan ordered.

Before Hitmontop could get any closer from its already close range, it was sent flying by Aggron's powerful hyper beam, smashing into a wall and being knocked out.

"No! Hitmontop!"

"Hitmontop is unable to battle!" The referee said. "Aggron's trainer will be the one to proceed on to the top 32 trainers for consideration."

* * *

In another room of the Battle Tower, Brock was engaging in a battle using his Foretress against a Xatu owned by his opponent, an attractive lady slightly older than himself.

"Xatu, use psychic, now!" The lady commanded.

"Forretress, wade through the attack and use tackle!" Brock told it.

"Forre!" The bagworm pokemon said as it directly faced the mystic pokemons psychic attack. Despite the lack of effectiveness of psychic attacks on steel pokemon, Forretress was unable to get close enough to Xatu to perform its attack and was dropped into the ground.

"Forretress, get up and use spikes!" The Brock commanded.

"Xatu, use ominous wind before it gets the chance!" The lady yelled.

"Xatu!" It said as it unleashed its attack on Forretress before it could perform its own, which caused Forretress to be pushed backwards, dragging the field as it went and smashing even further into the ground than before.

"This is insane!" Brock yelled, his voice filled with anger like never before. "Forretress, get up and use tackle."

"Forre!" The bagworm pokemon shouted as it got up and approached Xatu.

"Xatu, dodge it." Its trainer commanded.

"Xatu." The mystic pokemon said as it simply flew over the attack Forretress.

"Now use ominous wind again, Xatu!"

"Xatu." It said once again as it unleashed the ghost type attack on Forretress once again, knocking it down but not out.

"Forretress, get up and use explosion right now!" Brock shouted at the top of his voice.

"For….re." The bagworm pokemon said as it struggled to get out of the ground. Eventually reaching its opponent it initiated the attack.

"Xatu, fly away from Forretress as fast as you can!" Its trainer shouted, worriedly.

"Xatu!" The mystic pokemon said as it flew away from the attacking Forretress as fast as it could. Halfway to the ceiling, Forretress combusted in the manner that an attack called "explosion" would expect. As the dust cleared, Forretress was lying on the ground, knocked out. Xatu, on the other hand, suffered significant injury, but was still conscious.

"No way!" Brock yelled.

"Forretress is unable to battle." The referee declared. "Xatu's trainer will be the one to proceed to the top 32 trainers for consideration."

As they met up after the battle, the lady confronted Brock prior to him leaving.

"Hi there." She said.

"Hello." Brock responded, in a sad tone.

"How's your Forretress." She asked.

"He's unconscious." Brock responded. "I'm taking him to the pokemon centre now."

"That's good." The lady said, but still there was more. "What exactly happened?"

"Happened?"

"Your Forretress had a type advantage."

"Type advantages aren't everything."

"True. But weren't you somewhat unreasonably aggressive and angry?"

"Maybe. I'm not exactly feeling like myself right now."

"It happens." She accepted. "I hope you'll be able to help yourself soon."

"Thank you." Brock said.

* * *

In another room of the Battle Tower, Dawn prepared to face off against her opponent. He was a rather young boy with an oversized winter coat, a stange choice of attire for a place like Olivine City.

"This will be a 1-on-1 pokemon battle." He said. "Each trainer must release their pokemon at the same time as the other."

Dawn tossed out her pokeball. "Go for it!"

"Help me now!" The young boy said as he quickly tossed out his pokeball.

Out of the pokeballs came Dawn's Buneary from one while the boy's Voltorb came out from the other one.

"Let the battle begin!" The referee said.

"Buneary, use ice beam!" Dawn commanded.

"Voltorb, you use thunder shock!" The boy said.

"Buneary!" The pokemon said as it unleashed a jet of ice at its opponent.

"Volt-orb!" The pokemon said as it unleashed a jolt of electricity.

Both attacks cancelled each other out and created an array of sky blue sparks bathed in the yellow light of the remains of the thunder shock. This could've been a great contest move.

"Buneary, use ice beam again." Dawn told it.

"Stop it with rollout, Voltorb." Said the boy.

"Don't bet on it." Dawn told him as the light blue beam froze over the pokeball-shaped pokemon. Voltorb's voice could still be heard despite being covered in several inches of ice as Buneary danced around it.

"Buneary, stop that!" Dawn told it.

"I wouldn't celebrate yet, lady." The boy said. "Break yourself out with sonicboom, Voltorb."

"Voltorb!" The pokeball-shaped pokemon said as unleashed its sonicboom attack, causing sound waves to fly all around the arena from its body, breaking it free from the ice and returning it to the battle field.

"Now, Voltorb!" The boy yelled. "Get back in the fight with swift!"

"Counter it with dizzy punch, Buneary." Dawn commanded.

Buneary started winding up its stubby ears and charging towards its opponent as it opened its mouth and revealed a yellow ball which then started firing yellow stars.

"Buneary!" Dawn shouted. "Hit them away!"

"Buuuneeary!" The rabbit pokemon said as it ran towards its opponent, using its attack to smash away the attacking yellow stars with its ears. Eventually, Buneary reached its opponent at which point the fluff on its ears began to glow as the both the ears punched the pokeball-shaped pokemon.

"Voltorb, are you okay?" The young boy asked his pokemon.

"Voltorb!"

The young boy sighed. "That's a relief. Now use charge beam, Voltorb!"

"Volt?" The pokeball-shaped pokemon asked.

"Voltorb's been confused, Buneary!" Dawn cheered. "Use ice beam fast!"

"Dodge, it Voltorb!" The boy worriedly shouted.

"Buuuneeary!" The rabbit pokemon said as it unleashed the light blue beam at the pokemon which didn't know what to do. The beam, while not freezing Voltorb, sent it flying backwards. Voltorb, after crashing into the ground, started seeing stars.

"Voltorb is unable to battle!" The referee said. "Buneary's trainer will be the one to proceed on to the top 32 trainers for consideration."

* * *

Meanwhile, in another room of the Battle Tower, Gary Oak's Scizor was engaged in a battle against a Poliwrath belonging to a tall teenager wearing a green shirt. Gary's Scizor had already managed to land several swift attacks on Poliwrath, who had managed to land only one focus punch on Scizor.

"Poliwrath, use focus punch again!" Its trainer commanded.

"Poliwrath!" The tadpole pokemon shouted as it powered up its right arm, jumped up in the air and aimed for Scizor.

"Scizor, grab its hand with your pincers!" Gary told it.

"Sci!" "Poli?" were the reactions of the pokemon as Scizor's right pincer had grabbed Poliwrath's hand and trapped it in its claw-like grip.

"Then use focus punch with your other hand, Poliwrath." Its trainer said.

"Poli!" The tadpole pokemon said as it aimed its left hand for Scizor's chest, but was stopped when Scizor's other pincer grabbed its hand as it had done before.

"Poliwrath!" Its trainer shouted worriedly.

"Use steel wing on it Scizor!" Gary ordered.

"Scizor!" The pincer pokemon shouted as it released Poliwrath from its grip and its wings started to glow white and hit Poliwrath full on, sending it crashing into the ground.

"Poliwrath, can you get up?" Its trainer asked the fallen tadpole pokemon.

"Po..li." It said to its trainer as it struggled to get up, but eventually managed to do so.

"Alright then Poliwrath, use dynamic punch!" He said.

"Poli!" The tadpole pokemon said as a ball of light formed around its fist, approaching the pincer pokemon.

"Dodge it Scizor!" Gary told it.

"Scizor!" The pincer pokemon said as it took to the skies to avoid Poliwrath's attack.

"Poliwrath!" Its trainer said. "Jump up and use focus punch!"

"Scizor!" Gary shouted. "Use steel wing when Poliwrath is close enough."

"Poliwrath!"

"Scizor!"

Both the pokemon started shouting as they met in the air, preparing to unleash their attack and win the battle. With its longer body, Scizor was able to land its attack before Poliwrath could to the same, but when it had the chance, not having been completely knocked down by the attack, Gary gave an order.

"Scizor! Twist your body and use metal claw"

"Scizor!" The pincer pokemon yelled out as it twisted its body in a 270 degree angle, giving it a clear view of Poliwrath's attack but making said attack impossible to hit with. After the attack had failed, Scizor unleashed its metal claw attack, sending Poliwrath crashing into the ground below.

"Poliwrath!" Its trainer cried out, running up to it.

"Po…li!" The tadpole pokemon said as it fainted.

"Poliwrath is unable to battle." The referee declared. "Scizor's trainer will be the one to proceed to the top 32 trainers for consideration."

* * *

In another room of the Battle Tower, Leaf Green prepared to engage her opponent, a teenage boy wearing a gold and blue cap backwards, in a battle as the referee entered the room.

"This will be a 1-on-1 pokemon battle." He said. "Each trainer must release their pokemon at the same time as the other."

"Got it!" Leaf said, understanding rules Ash failed to.

"Get ready." Her opponent said.

"Come on out!" Leaf said as she threw her pokeball into the air.

"Go for it!" The boy said as he did the same.

Out of the pokeballs came a Typhlosion on the boy's side and a Dusknoir on Leaf's side. The two pokemon immediately faced down one another.

"Let the battle begin." The referee said.

"Typhlosion!" The boy yelled. "Use flame thrower!"

"Dusknoir!" Leaf yelled. "Get around it!"

"Dusk!" "Ty!" Those were the sounds the pokemon made as they followed their orders. Typhlosion aimed its flame thrower directly at the approaching Dusknoir. Following its order to get around the incoming fiery wave, Dusknoir effortlessly moved around the attack and approached ever so closely to Typhlosion.

"Typhlosion, get out of there!" Jimmy yelled out of concern.

"Dusknoir!" Leaf yelled. "Use pursuit."

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it pursued the fleeing Typhlosion, attacking it with extra force since it tried to flee. Typhlosion, though hurt somewhat, shrugged off the attack.

"Alright now, Typhlosion!" The boy shouted. "Use quick attack!"

"Dusknoir, you use confuse ray, fast!" Leaf told it.

"Typhlosion!" "Dusknoir!" The pokemon shouted as their attacks collided with the other. Typhlosion's attack had pushed back Dusknoir while the gripper pokemon's attack caused Typhlosion to walk in a very strange manner.

"Typhlosion!" The boy worriedly shouted. "Snap out of it!"

"Dusknoir!" Leaf shouted. "Hit it with shadow punch!"

"Dusk!" It shouted as its hands became outlined in a grey aura. After it punched the air, another fist of a shadow appeared in front of Typhlosion and punched it in the face, sending it reeling backwards!

"Typhlosion! Are you okay?" Its trainer asked

"Ty?" The fiery blaze pokemon asked, still under the influence of the confuse ray.

"Dusknoir! Use shadow punch!" Leaf told it.

"Typhlosion, run!" The boy shouted.

"Ty?"

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it punched the air which created a shadow image of a fist which punched the unmoving Typhlosion in the stomach, making it bend over and reel from the attack. Dusknoir then went back to Leaf's side.

"Giving up yet?" Leaf said to the boy.

"No way" He replied. "We're not done yet, right Typhlosion!"

"Typhlosion!" The fiery blaze pokemon shouted as the flames on its back burned brighter than ever, Typhlosion stood up tall roaring with its mouth wide open, ready to fight once more, having snapped out of its confusion.

"Great!" Leaf said. "Winning by default is no fun!"

"Hope you like losing honestly then." The boy shouted. "Typhlosion, use double edge!"

"Typhlosion!" The fiery blaze pokemon shouted as it approached Dusknoir.

"Prepare a counterattack, Dusknoir!" Leaf told it.

"Dusknoir." The gripper pokemon said as it effortlessly took Typhlosion's attack. Since normal moves didn't affect ghost pokemon, Dusknoir was unharmed by the double edge. The drawback was that Typhlosion suffered no recoil damage since the attack failed. However, Dusknoir now had a clear view of Typhlosion.

"Dusknoir!" Leaf shouted. "Use shadow punch again!"

"Typhlosion! You have to dodge it!" Its trainer shouted.

But it wasn't meant to be as the gripper pokemon scored a point blank range hit on Typhlosion, sending it reeling back towards the other side of the field.

"That won't happen again!" The opponent shouted with his fist raised into the air. "Typhlosion, finish it off with fire blast!"

"Dusknoir, use future sight!" Leaf commanded.

"Typhlosion!" "Dusknoir." The pokemon shouted as they unleashed their attacks. Typhlosion's powerful fire attack scored a direct hit on Dusknoir who was sent crashing into the ground. Dusknoir had already activated its future sight attack.

"Dusknoir, we need to keep going!" Leaf said.

"Typhlosion, use flame wheel again." Its trainer commanded.

"Ty!" The fiery blaze pokemon shouted as it enveloped itself in a wheel of fire and headed towards Dusknoir, who was attempting to get up.

"Typhlosion's coming for us!" Leaf shouted. "Use shadow punch on the ground below!"

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon said as it's air punch below created a shadow punch that broke the ground of the field, causing the spinning Typhlosion to lose its balance and go soaring into the air above Dusknoir.

"That's fine, Typhlosion!" Its trainer told it. "You have a clear view, use flame thrower!"

"Typh-"

The fiery blaze pokemon suddenly fell to the ground, creating a crater in its area of impact. The future sight attack used by Dusknoir earlier had taken effect.

"No! Typhlosion!" The boy shouted.

"Dusknoir!" Leaf shouted. "Finish it off with shadow punch!"

"Dusknoir!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it delivered the final attack to Typhlosion, pushing it further into the ground and knocking it unconscious.

"Typhlosion is unable to battle." The referee declared. "Dusknoir's trainer will be the one to proceed to the top 32 trainers for consideration."

"You still rock, Typhlosion." The boy said, recalling his injured pokemon back to its pokeball. "I'll take you to the pokemon centre when we get down."

At the exit of the arena, Leaf and the boy officially introduced themselves.

"Hey there." The boy said. "The name's Jimmy."

"Leaf." She told him, simply.

"Well that was an awesome battle." He told her. "I couldn't do much."

"Well you weren't exactly helpless." Leaf laughed. "So what next?"

"I'll be sticking around Olivine to watch the tournament." Jimmy replied. "Just cause I'm out doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself."

"So you live here?" Leaf asked.

"Nope. I'm from New Bark Town." He told her. "But my family owns a place or two in Olivine so I come here a lot."

"Your family has connections here?"

"That's right."

"Cool." Leaf said. "Can I ask you a favour?"

* * *

In another room of the Battle Tower, the light-brown haired coordinator had nearly managed to use her Glaceon to defeat a Dodrio belonging to her opponent.

"Now, Galceon!" May shouted. "Finish it off with ice beam!"

"Glaceon!" The fresh snow pokemon shouted as it unleashed a crystal blue beam of ice at this unmoving Dodrio, knocking it out and winning the battle for its trainer.

"Dodrio is unable to battle." The referee declared. "Glaceon's trainer will be the one to proceed to the top 32 trainers for consideration."

* * *

Back on the bottom floor of the Battle Tower, the winning 32 trainers gathered around. Ash had managed to find Brendan and May but Dawn, Gary and Leaf were nowhere to be seen.

"Where did everyone else go?" Ash wondered. "I thought all the battles were finished."

"Brock's not here either." May pointed out.

At that, Dawn approached the group alongside another boy who was not Gary. He was a boy about the same age as Dawn wearing a reddish-orange hat, a red scarf over a blue and white striped t-shirt with light-blue sleeves. He wore blue jeans and white shoes with a red stripe at the end. The boy jolted Brendan's memory.

"Guys!" She said. "I want you to meet Lucas!"

"Friend of yours?" May asked.

"Yeah." Dawn said. "Lucas is from Twinleaf town just like me and he's worked as an assistant to Professor Rowan."

"It's nice to meet you all." Lucas said.

"Hi there." Ash said. "My name's Ash."

"I'm May."

"Pi-Kachu." The electric mouse pokemon said.

But there was no need for Brendan to introduce himself in the same way.

"How's it been, Lucas?" Brendan asked.

"Fine." Lucas replied. "How've you been?"

"I've been alright." Brendan told him

"What?" Dawn asked, her head twisting all around. "You two know each other?"

"Lucas is a competitive trainer too." Brendan said. "I battled him in Sinnoh once."

"Yeah." Lucas agreed. "It was quite the short battle."

"Hey, you were the one who lost." Brendan said.

"So?"

"So why are you pointing out something that's so self-defeating?" Brendan asked.

Lucas just shrugged. "Making conversation?"

Brenda just started chuckling.

"So you made it past this round too, Lucas?" Ash asked.

"That's right." He answered. "I've been in around Battle Towers for a year or two now."

"So that's why you entered the tournament?" May asked.

"Yup." Lucas said. "I was also hoping Brendan would be there so I could beat him early on."

"You're welcome to try." Brendan said, as if issuing a challenge.

At that moment, Gary and Leaf found the rest of the gang, evidently having been unable to find them regardless of the fact that the crowd is much smaller than it was at the beginning of the tournament.

"Hey there." Gary said, before noticing Lucas. "Who's the guy with the scarf?"

Before Lucas could answer him, the ceiling lights went out while spotlights appeared on the stage where Wallace and Tucker normally spoke. As expected, one of them, specifically Tucker, entered from the curtains and took the microphone.

"First of all." He started. "I'd like to congratulate all 32 of you trainers for making it past the final preliminary round."

Amidst the cheering, Tucker put his hand up, indicating that he had more to say.

"Tonight at 6:00pm, a list of the 16 selected trainers will be posted here at the Battle Tower as well as at the Olivine City pokemon centre. Whether or not you make it through, know that you have still made an accomplishment in anyone's books. A list of rules for the following round of 16 will be included with the names of the qualifying trainers and match specifications will be posted tomorrow. We thank you all once again."

As the trainers dissipated, Gary and Leaf turned to Dawn and Lucas once more.

"So who's the scarf guy?" Gary asked.

"The name's Lucas." He told him, putting out his hand. Gary was hesitant to go for it, so Leaf did.

"I'm Leaf." She said. "And this is Gary."

"Nice to meet both of you." Lucas said in a polite tone.

"So, Lucas?" Dawn started. "Where are you staying?"

"I got a room at the pokemon centre a while ago." He explained.

"Good to know." Dawn said, staying next to him.

"So I guess we'll see you later, right?" Brendan asked.

"I guess."

"_This guy's trying to get in on my girl!"_ Gary thought. _"I'm so gonna teach him a lesson!"_

* * *

At 6:00 that evening, Gary and Leaf went to the Battle Tower together to pick up the information and had returned to Leaf's vacation house with the list of the 16 qualifying trainers at 6:25.

As to Brock, everyone had decided to leave him alone when they found out that he lost his battle and refused to speak with anyone. Though it killed them that they couldn't help Brock since they didn't know what the problem was, they had to accept it for now.

Leaf had got everyone, except Brock, to gather around in the living room so she could tell them the news that everyone wanted to hear.

"Alright guys, this is how it is..." She started.

She remained silent for a few more moments..

"Leaf?" Dawn asked.

"All six of us here made the cut!" She shouted out.

"Are you serious?" Ash asked, getting off his seat. "All of us?"

"Yep!" Leaf said. "All six of us are in the top 16 round."

"What about Lucas?" Dawn asked.

"Oh…yeah." Leaf said as she looked through the paper. "He's there too!"

"Awesome!" Dawn cheered.

"_I'm gonna thrash that guy."_ Gary thought.

* * *

Later that evening, at around 7:30pm, Leaf got five of the gang together once again, except Ash. She'd purposely left out Ash for a while so she could talk to the others. They'd all been outside with their pokemon celebrating that they'd made the top 16 round. Leaf had already put on a nice and tight pair of jeans and a tight green t-shirt with the words 'Brunette's are heartbreakers' written on it in addition to her hat. Eventually, Ash entered as expected and then it all began.

"How about we all go to the pier tonight?" She asked them all as she saw Ash enter.

"This city has a pier?" Ash asked from the door.

Gary just sighed. "Olivine is by the sea, it's standard for them to have one."

"Yeah." May said. "But why don't you and Ash go on ahead?"

"What?" Ash shouted?

"Pika?" The electric mouse chattered.

"The rest of us need to get ready." May explained. "You and Leaf are already ready."

"I'm barely ready!" Ash complained.

"Trust me Ash. You look fine." Leaf told him.

"Pikachu, come on." Ash said.

"Umm….Ash, I was wondering if I could borrow Pikachu." Brendan said, shocking Ash.

"Borrow Pikachu?" Ash asked. "Why?"

"I need its help and I don't have any powerful electric pokemon on hand." Brendan explained.

"Dawn has Pachirisu." Ash pointed out.

"I said powerful, not pitiful." Brendan said, seriously angering Dawn. Nobody had told him to say THAT during yesterday's talk.

"Pika?" Pikachu said, not wanting to leave Ash.

"Pikachu, if Brendan needs you, help him." Ash said. "It'll be alright."

"Piiiika." The electric mouse sadly agreed.

"_I'm so using Pachirisu to whip him if I'm paired against him."_ Dawn thought.

It took a few more minutes of convincing for Ash to agree to go on ahead with Leaf and let the others catch up with him later on. But eventually, he succumbed and agreed to it. Quickly taking care of his hygiene, putting on a new black T-shirt and his Sinnoh region hat, Ash went with Leaf to the Olivine City pier, expecting everyone else to follow.

* * *

On the Olivine City pier, at about 8:00pm, Leaf and Ash were waiting alone at the entrance. Gary and the others were expected to appear any minute and then they could all go on in. But all of a sudden:

_Take my hand (take my hand)  
Take my whole life too (life too)  
For I can't help falling in love with you_

Leaf held off on answering her cell phone till the third line of lyrics, hoping to give Ash a hint of what to expect.

"It's Leaf!" She said when she finally answered it.

She spoke on the phone for a few minutes in a conversation where she seemed to know exactly what to say since she didn't have to stop and think at any point. She finally hung up after a while

"That was May." Leaf said as she looked right at Ash. "She says something at the Battle Tower came up and so she and the others are going there instead."

"What was that?" Ash shouted.

"Some business at the Battle Tower, like I said." Leaf went on. "They said they'll take care of everything but that they probably won't be coming here tonight because this may take a while."

"_How did they find out about that information?"_ Ash wondered. _"And why do they all need to go take care of business? And how do Pikachu and Brendan fit in?"_

"It's just you and me, Ash." Leaf told him.

* * *

Rayquaza45: Oh boy! Ash and Leaf are all alone together on the Olivine City pier. What could possible happen?

Next time: **Chapter 8: Challenging the Dating Frontier!**

So please! Write a review! If you like the story, add it to favourites or story alert! Or both! But come on, everyone needs to tell me what they think! That's why we're all here. Read stories and share our opinions!

Till next time, people.


	8. Challenging the Dating Frontier

Rayquaza45: What's up people? I now present chapter 8 to the readers. Please take the time to read AND REVIEW! I'm aware of how pathetic I sound but seriously, review! All new readers and even readers who've written reviews before! Just do it, come on :(

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Challenging the Dating Frontier**

"Are you really sure they're not coming?" Ash asked.

"That's what May said." Lead answered. "It's just you and me tonight."

"Maybe we ought to come back again?" Ash suggested, desperately trying to get himself out of the situation.

"Let's not waste the night." Leaf smiled. "They said they'd take care of business."

Several moments of silence went by before Ash said anything.

"If that's how it is." Ash conceded.

The pier was probably the most couple-filled spot Ash had ever seen. Everywhere you looked, couples were spray painting their names, eating, hanging out and making out. Restaurants, gift shops, photo booths and boat rides littered the arena.

"_How did I get myself into this?" _Ash thought.

"So, what do you feel like doing first Ash?" Leaf asked him.

What was he going to say? What THE HELL was he going to say? This never happened to him before. His clear feelings for Leaf made the situation unbearable and yet desirable. Though other guys would kill for the chance to be with their girl, Ash was just a nervous wreck. Maybe the best approach was to start with something simple and easy.

"Let's eat." He answered.

"_Just what I was hoping he'd say." _Leaf thought.

* * *

The restaurant was called "Pier 2"; the name was a clear magnet to get couple to dine there. 2. Meaning that it was meant for two people to sit together. All the chairs were arranged around a table and they were all in sets of two and one table, also know as a table for two. As Ash and Leaf sat down at a window seat, at a table for two, of course, they opened up their menus. The waiter, a middle aged guy, wasted little time coming to take their order.

"Welcome to Pier 2." He said. "What can I get you two this evening?"

"Just water for now." Leaf said.

"Devil's Crush here." Ash said.

"Very well then." He said as he wrote on his notepad and left.

"Ash?"

"Yes?"

"What's a devil's crush?"

"A drink that tastes even better than it sounds."

"Sounds pretty good to begin with."

Eventually, the waiter returned with their drinks. Placing the drinks on their tables, he set his tray aside. Ash's drink was a sparkling yellow color in a tall glass with a lemon slice on top, loads of ice and a twisted straw. Leaf's received a glass of sparkling water that seemed like it could've come from the snowy alpines of Sinnoh.

"Is there anything I can get you two now?" He asked.

"Leaf?"

"Whatever your most popular item is." She said.

"Same." Ash told him.

"Very well then." The waiter said as he picked up all his stuff. "Thank you."

The next few minutes were relatively quiet. Ash simply sipped his drink and avoided direct eye contact with Leaf. Leaf, on the other hand, stared outside the window at all the couples on the pier enjoying themselves and enjoying their time together. She then decided that she had to make conversation in order to enjoy herself.

"So, Ash." She smiled. "Where have you been on your pokemon journey so far?"

He had to stop drinking in order to answer. "Well I started in Kanto just like you did."

"I know, we both got our starter pokemon from Professor Oak." She said. "But what happened after the tournament at the Indigo Plateau?"

"Well…I went to the Johto region afterwards and competed in the Silver Conference." He went on. "After that was Hoenn, where I competed in the Ever Grande Conference. Then I returned to Kanto for the Battle Frontier."

"You won that, didn't you?" Leaf asked.

"Yeah, that's right." Ash said, finally showing signs of cheering up. "It was a real challenge."

"I know the feeling." Leaf replied. "I won the Sinnoh Battle Frontier."

"What!" Ash said, his reaction mixed with surprise but excitement as well. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." She said, wearing her heart-melting smiling. "But it was unlike anything I've ever done before."

"I hardly ever heard of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier." Ash stated. "Where is it exactly?"

"It's on the Battle Zone Island." Leaf said. "I went there and obtained all the prints."

"Prints?" Ash asked.

"Oh yeah." Leaf said, evidently remembering something. "The Sinnoh Battle Frontier awards special prints while I've heard the Kanto Battle Frontier awards gold symbols."

"That's awesome!" Ash said. "So what else have you done?"

"Well I really messed up at the Indigo Plateau and only made it into the top 32." Leaf said, sadly remembering her failures.

"That's exactly as how far Gary went." Ash remembered.

"That's when I knew I had to work harder. So I decided to go to Hoenn and train there. I spent a lot of extra time there than I did anywhere else on my journey and I made it into the top 2 at the Ever Grande Conference." Leaf explained.

"You made it into the top 2!" Ash asked in amazement.

"Yeah, I guess that'd have been when you were in Johto." Leaf said. "And after a while I went to Sinnoh and competed in the Sinnoh League."

"And how'd you do there?" Ash asked.

Leaf smiled. "I made it into the top 8."

"That's good!" Ash said. "So after that is when you went to compete in the Sinnoh Battle Frontier?"

"Yup." Leaf laughed. "And eventually, I came to the Johto region to compete in the Johto League. But when I found out about this tournament, I just had to compete."

"Then you found Gary and the rest of us, right?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. I signed up for the tournament and then I noticed you and Gary going to register a few days later." Leaf explained. "That's when I saw you guys in the Battle Tower with Dawn and Brock."

"I remember that night." Ash said. "I gotta thank you again for letting us stay at your vacation house."

"What are friends for, Ash?" Leaf rhetorically asked, wearing that same heart-melting smiled.

He just stayed silent, now knowing what Leaf expected him to say. Soon after, the waiter returned with their orders.

"This is the most popular item in our restaurant." He said, lifting the top off the plates revealing them to be laced with Foie Gras and featuring an omelet and a side of sausage. "Is there anything else I can get the two of you?"

"Leaf?"

She simply shook her head, allowing her beautiful brown hair to swish subtly.

"Thanks. We'll signal you if there is."

"Very well then." He said. "Thank you and we do hope you enjoy."

Ash wasted no time eating, but kept himself in check. He had finally begun to understand his situation; he was set up on a date. There was nothing he could do about it now, but he'd have to stick with it since he was in public and Leaf seemed really happy.

"_This must've been what Gary and the others were discussing back at the house."_ Ash thought.

Gary and Brendan must've spilled the beans about his history with Leaf to the girls. Everything worked out perfectly, Leaf and himself going first, the last minute business about the tournament, everyone else going out to get it, Brendan asking to borrow Pikachu, May calling Leaf to make it look like something had really come up at the Battle Tower.

They'd really thought of everything. Well, almost everything since he'd kept his pokeballs with him. Seemed strange that Gary would forget something like that, but stranger things have been known to happen.

Without even thinking about it, Leaf and Ash had managed to clear their plates, which the waiter took notice of. He then came to the table holding two bowls of ice cream.

"These are on the house." He said, putting them in front of Ash and Leaf.

"Thanks."

"Shall I bring you the bill?"

"Leaf?" Ash asked, which was met with a nod. "Sure."

"Service is surprisingly fast." Ash said.

"Sure is." Leaf said, already knowing the reason why.

Not long after, Ash and Leaf had a fun little fight about who got to pay the bill, with the final decision having been Leaf giving into Ash's demand to allow him to pay, fortunate that he'd kept his wallet.

As they left the restaurant, a familiar boy wearing a gold and blue hat backwards spoke to the waiter who'd been at Ash and Leaf's table and slipped a curiously high-valued note into his pocket.

* * *

"So…..what can we do now?" Ash asked, walking along side Leaf, staring out into the dark night sky.

"How 'bout we just take a walk?" Leaf suggested, knowing Ash's answer.

It hadn't been too long since Ash and Leaf had arrived, but there seemed to be even more couples now than before. The vast majority of them were holding hands with one another, making Leaf slightly jealous.

"Hey, Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you feel like taking a picture?"

A picture. A picture had started the entire revelation. Like the golden apple to Troy, everything started over something tiny. Though he'd liked Leaf long before they took the picture, that single picture had lead to everything that had happened recently.

"Sure."

As they approached the photo booth, another couple exited. The guy was noticeably laughing his head off while his girlfriend did the same, one could only wonder what they'd been doing earlier that night. Ash inserted his change as he and Leaf entered the booth. Leaf sat on Ash's left and took off her hat.

"Please hold still for the photo." The automated voice instructed. "The pictures will be taken when the countdown reaches zero."

"Ash, take off your hat." Leaf softly told him.

"You want me to take off my hat?" Ash asked, in surprise.

Leaf was actually blushing, but the darkness in the booth made it hard to tell. "I think you look nice without it."

"I'd feel pretty strange without a hat, but I guess since it's a photo." He said, finally taking off his hat.

"Say cheese." The automated voice said as the countdown reached zero.

Neither Ash nor Leaf said cheese, but they both smiled as four pictures were taken. The automated voice said nothing more so they went outside to collect the pictures.

"They turned out pretty nice." Leaf said, taking them in her hand.

The first picture was one of Ash and Leaf together, smiling in a basic way. The second picture was essentially the same as the first. The third one featured them slightly closer than the first two but their smiles remained the same. The fourth picture was an entirely different story, however. Ash and Leaf were sitting very close together, Leaf held her head really close to Ash's and wore her heart-melting smile while Ash smiled too and had his hand on her left shoulder. Both their eyes were glistening. He'd evidently been okay with the closeness and not wearing his hat.

"I knew you looked good without a hat." Leaf told him.

Ash shrugged. "I just enjoy wearing them."

"You didn't always wear hats." Leaf pointed out.

"I've been wearing them a lot since I started my journey." Ash said. "I think it'd be weird for me to stop wearing them."

"Fair enough." Leaf said. "Alright then, why don't you tell me where you wanna go next?"

* * *

Ash's choice of destination was a rollercoaster situated at the far end of the pier. Since he'd started to enjoy himself, he'd do what he could to make this the best night of both his and Leaf's lives.

Purchase of tickets, which resulted in another minor discussion about money which Leaf managed to win, waiting in line and waiting for the previous ride to end had the time change to 9:00pm. Soon after the ride ended so Ash and Leaf boarded and sat next to one another.

"3…2…1…GO!" The ride conductor shouted.

The ride had failed to go too fast in the beginning but started to speed up after a minute or so. At that point, the ride climbed up a steep track and went down it at what seemed to be 100MPH.

Leaf put her arms high up in the air and started shouting her head off in happiness while Ash kept his arms firmly grabbed on to the railings and did everything in his power to avoid wetting his pants.

As the ride ended 10 minutes later, Ash walked off the ride wobbling around while Leaf walked off with little trouble.

"That was terrible." Ash complained, walking around clutching his stomach.

Leaf put her hand on his shoulder from behind, causing him to blush. "You suggested it."

"How did your hat stay on through the entire thing?" Ash asked her?

Leaf just shrugged in response before noticing something. "Ash! Your hat's missing."

* * *

The time was now 9:45. Ash and Leaf had spent a long time searching around the area for his hat. Just when they were about to give up and Ash was coming to terms with possibly having to use another of his hats, a Corsola appeared in front of them, dancing around with Ash's hat on.

"That's my hat." Ash yelled, running up to the Corsola. "Let me have my hat back, please Corsola."

Rather than let Ash have what belonged to him, Corsola decided to have fun and tease Ash while wearing his hat.

"Ash." Leaf called out to him. "Try battling it."

"Battling it?" Ash asked. "I don't wanna hurt it."

"Just go easy on it then." Leaf asked. "You still have some pokemon with you, right?"

"That's right." Ash said, reaching back and pulling one out. "Come on out!"

Ash's pokeball was thrown into the air and created a flash of light which manifested itself in his Sinnoh grass-type pokemon, Torterra.

"Tor!" The continent pokemon called out.

"I need your help, Torterra" Ash told it. "We need to battle that Corsola and get my hat back."

Torterra just looked at Ash in a very strange and comical manner, wondering why its trainer would use a pokemon as powerful as itself to battle a simple Corsola.

"Let's just finish this fast!" Ash called out. "Use leaf storm!"

"Torterra!" The continent pokemon shouted as it unleashed a barrage of leaves at the still-dancing Corsola, knocking it unconscious with little trouble.

Ash proceeded over to the unconscious Corsola and took his hat back. "Don't take what isn't yours."

Leaf approached Ash, having watched the battle from a few meters distance. "That's one powerful Torterra, Ash."

"Thank you." Ash laughed as he struck his pose of putting his hand behind his head.

"I guess we ought to take this Corsola to the pokemon centre." Leaf pointed out.

* * *

It was 10:00pm in the pitch black of the night when Ash and Leaf arrived at the Olivine pokemon centre. Ash carried Corsola there in his arms and handed it to the operating Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy, this is a wild Corsola." Ash explained. "Can you help it?"

"Oh dear." Nurse Joy worriedly said as she looked over Corsola's injuries. "Whatever pokemon did this must be quite powerful to have inflicted such damage."

"_Well, you're right about that." _Ash thought.

"Will it be okay?" Leaf eagerly asked her.

"Yes." Nurse Joy told them. "I'll keep it here overnight and treat it."

* * *

For the next 30 minutes, Ash and Leaf walked around the pier some more. The central challenge became trying to wade through the gangs of other couples who crowded the area.

"This is crazy!" Ash exclaimed.

"But it is a nice night to be out, isn't it?" Leaf smiled

"….Yeah."

"_I'm gonna have to thank everyone for helping me pull this off." _Leaf thought.

Eventually, lights in some areas began to shut off, the rollercoaster was shut down and the restaurant closed for the night, indicating that the pier was closing and that everyone was supposed to go home.

"I guess we ought to go back." Leaf said, putting a touch of sadness in her voice.

Ash sighed. "I guess. But I have to get one thing for Brendan first."

* * *

As they walked towards the house, Ash and Leaf contemplated the nights events in their heads. Ash, thought reluctant to admit that he had a good time, did. But as they walked back, Ash never even looked at Leaf. The only thing on his mind was Brendan taking Pikachu from him. How could he do something like that? It wasn't that Ash didn't enjoy the night, but everything that had happened had happened because Pikachu wasn't there.

Leaf noticed Ash's angry face as they walked back. Why was he angry? Did he not enjoy their first night alone together in years? Or was it something else? Did he realize that he'd been set up? Was he capable of realizing something like that? He'd been pretty dense when she knew him, but would he have still been the same? Was he upset that Leaf had resorted to trickery to get him to come along with her? Had she upset him that much? Or was it…something more that she didn't understand?

Finally reaching the house, Ash opened the unlocked door and found Brendan and May sitting on one of the two person couches while Dawn and Gary sat on the other one.

"How are you two lovebirds doing tonight?" May jokingly asked.

Neither Ash nor Leaf responded.

"Maybe the question ought to be 'who', right?" Brendan asked, earning him a moderate hit on the head from May.

"Hey, Brendan, I got you something." Ash said, angrily throwing him a bottle that hit him in the head.

"Ouch." Brendan said as he took the bottle, turning it around in his hand. "Lemonade?"

"Now you can get that free massage." Gary pointed out while laughing.

"Who massages you?" May asked.

"Can we come back to that?" Ash shouted. "What happened at the Battle Tower?"

"Nothing." Gary revealed. "We just needed an excuse to stay here."

"Wallace already told us back at the tower." May started. "The match specifications are coming out tomorrow."

"Where's Pikachu?" Ash asked, turning to Brendan.

"He's on your bed." Brendan told him. "Sorry for ta-."

"What's wrong with you?" Ash scolded him.

"Ash!" May asked him in a surprised tone. She'd never seen Ash get that angry.

"Didn't you guys have a good time?" Dawn asked, trying to mellow out the situation.

"We had a great time." Leaf told her, hoping her words would stop the anger.

"You'd better not ever do that again." Ash sternly told Brendan, ignoring Dawn and Leaf.

"Alright dude, I won't, I swear." Brendan said, trying to calm Ash down.

"Alright." Ash said, relieved but still somewhat upset. "What next?"

"Tomorrow, somebody goes back to the Battle Tower and gets the information." May said.

"How's Brock holding up?" Ash asked.

But everyone was hesitant to answer, until Gary spoke up.

"He hasn't left his room." Gary told him. "He's barely made any noi-."

_Akogare ni oshitsubusarete  
akirametetan da  
hateshinai sora no iro mo  
shiranai de_

"Sorry about that." Brendan said, answering his cellphone. "Go for Brendan!"

"_I don't know why May did."_Ash thought.

Brendan spoke on the phone for several minutes in the living room so everyone stayed quiet, upset at his blatant lack of courtesy. Finally, he got off.

"What?" He asked everyone as they looked at him.

"You could've taken the phone somewhere else." Gary pointed out.

"Never mind that." Brendan responded. "That was Lucas; he says the match information is being posted tomorrow at 11:00.

"Good to know." Leaf said. "Now what were we talking about?"

"We need a way to find out what's wrong with Brock." May said.

"Let me take care of that." Ash said, reassuringly as he knocked on Brock's door. "I'm gonna come in, Brock."

And he went in.

"What's he gonna do?" Dawn asked.

"He knows Brock a lot better than the rest of us." Gary stated. "He knows what he's doing."

Leaf paid no attention to their words and simply went to her room. Only May noticed her leaving. Heading to her room, she knocked on the door.

"Leaf." May called. "Can I come in?"

* * *

It was now 10:45am the next day. Brock was back to his normal self, well, as normal as could be. Everyone had already eaten. May was out on the field training with Leaf, Brendan was watching TV and Dawn had gone with Gary to the Battle Tower to get the match specifications that were due today morning. Brock and Ash joined Brendan in his TV watching later on.

"They're airing your match, Ash." Brendan said.

* * *

As the stream of water chased the electric mouse across the field, its trainer came up with a final plan.

"Pikachu! Jump over Staryu!" Ash ordered.

"Pika?" The mouse said as it obeyed its trainer and jumped over the sparkling core pokemon.

"Now!" Ash started. "Use volt tackle from where you are in the air!"

"PikaPikaPika... Pi-ka" The electric mouse repeated as it slammed into its opponent with the force of its attack as well as the gravity aiding it on its way down from the air. The force of the shock was enough to knock Staryu out.

"Staryu is unable to battle." The referee announced. "Pikachu is the winner and goes on to the third preliminary round."

* * *

"Using volt tackle from the air must've been pretty difficult for Pikachu." Brendan commented.

"Pikachu's done it a few times before." Ash coldly responded.

At that, Gary and Dawn returned from the Battle Tower with a sheet of paper in hand and spread it out over the living room table, blocking Brendan's view of the TV.

"What's wrong with you?" Brendan shouted.

"Oh now you recognize bad manners." Gary sarcastically responded. "Dawn, can you call Leaf and May in here?"

"So did you meet up with Lucas?" Brendan jokingly asked Gary as Dawn left the room.

"What?"

"It's pretty clear dude."

"What is?"

"You're jealous."

Gary's eyes widened as his muscles started expanding slightly. "I am not jealous."

The reaction earned a laugh from all three of the guys.

"I bet." Brendan laughed.

"Cut it out guys." Brock said. "They're here."

"_Just what did Ash say to him yesterday?"_Brendan asked himself.

Leaf, May and Dawn came to the room.

"So you got the match specifications?" Leaf asked.

"Yeah." Gary said. "Take a look."

The tournament schedule was laid out. All the boxes for the quarterfinals and above were blank. Only the round of top 16 blocks had names revealed. The rulebook stated that the round of 16 was to be a double battle. Ash, Lucas, Leaf, May and Gary were all to battle unknown trainers for their round of top 16 but that was only their battle.

The match specifications showed that the third match of the round of 16 was to be a battle between Dawn and Brendan.

"I'm fighting first?" Ash said as he looked at the schedule.

"Seems that way." Leaf told him.

"So I'm battling you, Brendan?" Dawn asked in moderate surprise.

"I guess so." Brendan responded.

"_T__his is my chance to get him back for calling my pokemon pitiful!" _Dawn thought.

"It seems that matches occur simultaneously." Brock read aloud from the information at the bottom of the page. "Ash and Lucas are going first and second, but they will be battling different opponents at the same time on a different field."

"My battle isn't against anyone we know." Leaf pointed out. "And the battle that happens at the same time is against two unknowns."

"My battle is at the same time as May's." Gary pointed out.

"Don't sweat it." May cheerfully said. "There's always the TV telecast."

"I'm not going easy on you." Brendan jokingly told Dawn.

"Good." Dawn said, looking at May. "If I was your girlfriend and you took it easy on my friends, I'd dump you!"

Everyone went into hysteric laughter, except Brendan who kept an icy cold stare on Dawn. Ash was rolling on the floor laughing his head off.

"Alright people, grow up." Brendan said calmly. "When do the battles start?"

"Tomorrow at 12:00 noon." Dawn struggled to say, having kept laughing.

* * *

After teasing Brendan for a few more minutes, Ash went outside to train for the upcoming matches. Ash's training had been going on for a while, longer than most days. It had gotten to the point that anyone else who wanted to train would have to be willing to stay up late. It was now approaching 5:00pm and he'd been finishing up for the day.

"Glalie, use ice beam on Snorlax!" Ash commanded. "Snorlax, use protect!"

"Snor." "Glalie!" The pokemon shouted as they acted. Glalie's icy blue beam was absorbed by Snorlax's protective barrier and nullified.

"Great job, guys." Ash said. "That's it for today."

* * *

The next day, at 11:45, the gang had proceeded back to the Battle Tower in order to have their matches. Ash was taken to the preparation area by the referee and Tucker on the 45th floor. The entire room was green. As Ash looked at the pokeballs in his hand, and Pikachu by his side, he looked up at the door which was to open automatically if his match were to begin.

Leaf, Brock, May, Dawn, Brendan and Gary all stayed in the stands near the exit since they'd have to leave for their battles eventually.

Ash sat on a chair in his green preparation room, mentally preparing himself for his battle.

"Will the trainers please enter the battle field now?" A voice said as the door in Ash's dressing room opened.

"Let's go for it." Ash said while walking through the door into the field surrounded by thousands of cheering Olivine City residents sitting in the stands high above the field.

"Pika!" The electric rodent cheered from Ash's shoulder.

* * *

Rayquaza45: So how did you guys like that? Hope you're getting pumped for the battles, 'cause they're up next! So did anyone think there wasn't enough romance? Well fear not, cause this isn't the only chapter that'll be dedicated to it, there's gonna be alot more later on. So remember to review the chapter now that it's done. Even if you've done it before, I'll always listen to what you have to say.

Next time: **Chapter 9: The Top 16! The Real Battles Begin!**

So I got a job for all readers. Tell me a pokemon you think Leaf should have in her party? Tell me what you'd suggest when you write your review. The only rules: no starters, nothing already held by a main character and no legendary pokemon (but that should go without saying), alright? For the sake of clearance: when I say 'main characters', I mean anime characters who are in the story in addition to other main characters from the anime like Paul or Tyson. I know you're gonna want to review now, but give me your feedback AND suggestion.

Till next time, people!


	9. The Top 16! The Real Battles Begin!

Rayquaza45: It's time, readers! The real fights of the Battle Spirits Tournament are beginning! Alright so, sorry to do this, but there is a minimum review limit on this chapter. Of course, you will find out what it is at the end of this chapter, so remember to review! Everyone!

Congratulations to "Zombrya", your suggestion of Leaf having a Froslass will be taken into the story. Not now, but later.

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it!

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Top 16! The Real Battles Begin!**

The massive cheering crowd sitting in the seats high above the battle field on the 45th floor of the Battle Tower field where Ash was fighting made it difficult for him to think clearly. There was a small podium above the field for the referee. There was also a big TV screen on the wall high above one side of the field which was meant for people far away from the field who would need to keep up with what was going on.

The field had a very high roof, given for flying pokemon as well as a small section made of water, for water-type pokemon.

Wallace suddenly appeared on the TV screen, eliciting cheers from the crowd and deafening screams from fangirls scattered around the seats. He was wearing an outfit similar to the one he wore in the Sinnoh region Wallace cup and he was standing on a stage surrounded by a black curtain. Soon after the cheering ended, he spoke up.

"Welcome, one and all, to the true beginning of the Battle Spirits Tournament." He said. "As the official hos-"

A can of lemonade suddenly beamed Wallace in the head, appearing to have been thrown at him from somewhere off camera. "ONE OF the official hosts!" A loud voice boomed, having likely been amplified by a microphone.

"Yes, yes, ONE of the official hosts of this tournament and the host of the round of 16, I now declare the tournament open!" Wallace said. "The matches are now to begin."

* * *

Up in the stands; Gary, Leaf, Dawn, May, Brendan and Brock were sitting together and talking.

"So where's Lucas' battle?" May asked.

"Ugh." Gary mumbled as quietly as possible.

"He's fighting on the 46th floor." Brendan said.

* * *

Back on the field, the referee took the microphone and started talking. "Will the green trainer, Ash Ketchum approach the field?"

Ash approached the trainers square at the edge of the field with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Will the red trainer approach the field?" The referee asked.

Ash's opponent was a tall and muscular boy, slightly older than himself wearing ripped jeans, a light-blue t-shirt and black shoes. He approached the field and stood tall.

"Now, are both trainers ready for battle?" The referee asked.

"You know it!"

"Yeah!"

"Both trainers are to release their pokemon now!" The referee shouted.

"Come on out!" Ash shouted as he threw his pokeballs into the air.

"Fight with me!" The kid shouted as he released his pokemon at the same time.

On Ash's side came out Snorlax and Glalie while his opponent had released a Kabutops and a Bastiodon.

"_Bastiodon is part steel-type. This may be a challenge."_ The kid thought, looking at Ash's Glalie.

Ash started looking at his opponent's Kabutops. _"A rock type may be hard to fight against with Glaile." _He thought.

"The name's Milton." The kid told Ash.

"I'm Ash Ketchum." Ash cheerfully responded.

"Alright, trainers!" The referee started. "There will be no substitutions. Let the battle begin!"

"Snorlax, use hyper beam on Kabutops!" Ash shouted. "And Glalie, use ice beam on Bastiodon!"

Snorlax opened its arms wide open and started collecting orange-colored energy within its mouth. After collecting for several seconds and finally having enough accumulated energy, it opened its mouth and released a powerful orange beam at Kabutops.

At the same time, Ash's Glalie charged up a light blue ball in between the horns on its head and fired a light blue beam at Bastiodon.

"Bastiodon! Iron defense!" Milton shouted. "Kabutops, get around the hyper beam and use night slash on Snorlax!"

"Bast!" The shield pokemon said as the outline of its head started to glow light blue and a white shine went down its face. The ice beam from Glalie continued to hit dead-on but seemingly failed to inflict any significant damage.

At the same time, Kabutops ran it's hardest to evade Snorlax's hyper beam. After getting close enough to the sleepy pokemon, Kabutop's right sickle began to glow purple as the dome pokemon wound its arm back and prepared to strike!

"Snorlax, use protect!" Ash commanded.

"Snor!" The sleepy pokemon yawned as its body tensed up and flashed bright, taking no damage from Kabutop's attack. Snorlax now stood face to face with the dome pokemon.

"Glalie! Use ice beam again on Bastiodon!" Ash commanded. "Snorlax, use mega punch on Kabutops!"

"Snor!" The sleepy pokemon yelled as it obeyed its trainers command, winding up its now-glowing hand and aiming for Kabutops.

"Glalie!" The face pokemon said as it launched another ice beam at the shield pokemon.

"Both of you dodge the attacks!" Milton ordered.

Bastiodon managed to run away from the ice beam's area of impact and create significant distance between itself and the other battlers.

But the dome pokemon, Kabutops, was not as fortunate. Kabutops jumped backwards in order to dodge Snorlax's punch but remembering its training, the sleepy pokemon managed to hit the dome pokemon with its attack from a different angle, sending it flying back.

"Kabutops, no!" Milton shouted. "Bastiodon, use iron head on Snorlax!"

"Bast!" The shield pokemon shouted as it charged towards Snorlax, its body began to glow in a white shine as it approached its opponent.

"Snorlax! Hyper beam!" Ash shouted.

"Snor!" The sleepy pokemon yawned as it collected energy in its mouth and fired a yellowish-orange beam at the charging Bastiodon. The explosion between the two attacks covered the field in a great deal of dust. Even the cameras couldn't see what was happening. After several moments, the dust cleared. Bastiodon was panting heavily, having taken some damage while Snorlax was quite tired.

"Glalie! Get in there and use ice beam on Bastiodon!" Ash ordered.

"Glalie!" The face pokemon said as it fired an ice beam on the struggling-to-move shield pokemon.

"Kabutops, cancel it out with ancient power!" Milton yelled.

"Kabutops!" The dome pokemon said as it covered its body in a white glow and formed the glow into a white ball and fired it to cancel out the ice beam sent by Glalie, creating yet another cloud of dust.

* * *

Up in the seats, the gang immersed themselves in discussion.

"Nobody seems to be getting an edge." Brendan observed.

"They've still got a ways to go before one of them wins." Brock said. "It can go either way at this point."

"_No way. Ash's got this in the bag."_ Leaf thought.

* * *

Back on the battlefield, Glalie and Snorlax stood side by side while Kabutops and the injured Bastiodon stared them down from across the field.

"Snorlax, use mega punch on Kabutops!" Ash yelled. "Glalie, use ice beam on Bastiodon."

"Kabutops, use endure!" Milton ordered. "Bastiodon, dodge it!"

"Kabutops!" The dome pokemon yelled out as it put itself in a defensive pose and took Snorlax's attack head-on.

"Bastttt!" The shield pokemon screamed as it was unable to dodge Glalie's ice beam in time and was hit by the powerful move, encasing it in a block of ice, unable to move.

"Bastiodon, no!" Milton yelled in agony.

"Snorlax, use mega punch on Kabutops again!" Ash commanded.

"Kabutops, aqua jet!" Milton told his pokemon.

"Kabutops!" The dome pokemon said as it encased its body in water and shot itself like a rocket towards Snorlax's face, knocking the sleepy pokemon backwards.

"End it with night slash, Kabutops!" Milton ordered.

"Glalie, use headbutt!" Ash told it.

"Glalie!" The face pokemon said as it charged towards Kabutops and hit it in the head with its whole body, knocking it off balance and allowing Snorlax to get up.

"Now then, Snorlax use hyper beam!" Ash yelled. "And Glalie, use headbutt!"

"Kabutops, you have to get out of the way!" Milton worriedly told his pokemon.

"Kabutops!" The dome pokemon said as is managed to dodge Glalie's headbutt, sending the face pokemon reeling to the left. But Snorlax managed to shoot down Kabutops with its powerful hyper beam, pushing it far down into the crumbling ground.

"Kabutops, can you get up?" Milton asked the seriously injured pokemon.

"Ka…." The dome pokemon said as it struggled to get up, standing for a few seconds "…butops." the pokemon said as it fell in defeat.

"Kabutops is unable to battle." The referee declared. "The red trainer has only one pokemon left."

It was true. Milton only had his frozen Bastiodon left to battle with. But having been encased in ice, he may as well forfeit, of course, he didn't.

"Kabutops, return!" Milton shouted. "Thank you for working so hard, Kabutops."

"You've raised Kabutops pretty well, Milton." Ash complemented.

"Thanks, Ash." He responded. "Bastiodon, break free from the ice!"

A few moments passed while everyone waited for Bastiodon to break out of its ice prison, but no luck.

"Snorlax, use hyper beam to break it out of the ice." Ash told it.

"Snor!" The sleepy pokemon yawned as it fired a yellowish-orange beam at the ice block which had encased Bastiodon. The powerful beam broke the ice and freed the shield pokemon, but had also inflicted serious injury. Bastiodon attempted to get to its feet, but fainted.

"No!" Milton shouted. "Bastiodon!"

"Bastiodon is unable to battle. The red trainer is out of pokemon." The referee declared. "Victory to the green trainer, Ash Ketchum. The green trainer will be the one to proceed to the top 8 round."

* * *

After congratulating Milton on a well fought battle, Ash went to the stands to greet his friends.

"Hey guys." He said, looking around and realizing someone was missing and someone had appeared. "Lucas?"

"Hi, Ash." Lucas politely replied.

"When did you get here?" Ash asked.

"Right around the time that Glalie froze Bastiodon." He explained. "I won my match pretty easily."

"_This guy must be pretty good." _Ash thought.

"Congratulations." Lucas said.

"You too." Ash said.

"Dawn and Brendan are fighting each other." May reminded him.

"Their match is starting up next." Brock said.

Leaf still hadn't spoke to Ash since yesterday. He made no attempt to reconcile with her either. Both seemed to think that some time apart would do well for them. Both of them still had to struggle not to do anything, thinking that if they did, the situation could get even worse. Though Leaf felt somewhat better after talking to May, Ash hadn't spoken to anyone about the date.

* * *

Back on the field, the referee started up the next battle.

"Will the green trainer please enter the arena?" The called out.

Heeding the call, Dawn emerged from the preparation room and entered the field. With Piplup by her side, she put on a confident grin.

"Will the red trainer now enter the arena?" The referee called out once again.

Brendan Birch approached the field, his shoulders held back, head held high and eyes staring all around in a deep manner.

"Now, are both trainers ready for battle?" The referee asked.

"Yeah!"

"Definitely!"

"Both trainers are to release their pokemon now!" The referee shouted.

"Come on out!"

"Fight along side me!"

On Dawn's side came out Mamoswine and Pachirisu. Her central reason for using the elesquirrel was Brendan's comment a few days ago. It was when he referred to Pachirisu as 'pitiful' when acting out his part of Leaf's plan which involved him holding on to Pikachu with the excuse being that he needed a powerful electric pokemon.

On Brendan's side came out Shiftry and Rhyperior. The wicked pokemon, Shiftry, had helped Brendan break several Battle Tower records while the drill pokemon, Rhyperior, was his strongest pokemon, second only to his starter pokemon, Swampert.

"Alright, trainers!" The referee started. "There will be no substitutions. Let the battle begin!"

"Rhyperior, use hammer arm on Pachirisu!" Brendan ordered. "Shiftry, hang back."

"Mamoswine, get past Rhyperior fast!" Dan told it. "Pachirisu, stop his hammer arm with super fang!"

"Mamo!" The twin tusk pokemon shouted as it followed its trainers order and ran past Rhyperior as fast as it could with speed usually used in contests.

"Pa!" The elesquirrel pokemon said as it jumped up and opened its mouth widely, its teeth began to glow as it latched on to Rhyperior's attacking arm as the drill pokemon looked back at Mamoswine.

"Rhy?" The confused drill pokemon said, looking at the little pokemon grabbing on to its hand with its mouth. Rhyperior comically tried to shake it off to no avail.

"Mamoswine, use hidden power and aim for Rhyperior's legs." Dawn yelled.

"Mamoswine!" The twin tusk pokemon said as it unleashed a barrage of white sparks from its body and aimed them at the legs of the drill pokemon. The sparks fizzled out against the legs of the large pokemon, who seemingly felt nothing from the attack.

"You didn't really think you were gonna hurt Rhyperior like that, did you?" Brendan sarcastically asked.

* * *

Up in the stands, Ash and the rest of the group were engaged in watching the battle between their two friends. A loss meant the one of the two couldn't go on.

"Why's Brendan keeping Shiftry back and only attacking with Rhyperior?" Leaf asked out loud.

"Maybe it's all part of a strategy?" Brock suggested.

"You're wrong. He's not planning any strategy." May flatly said.

"What?" All of them asked at the same time.

"Brendan's trying to show off by defeating both of Dawn's pokemon at the same time with only one pokemon of his own." May revealed.

"He can't really think that that's gonna work!" Ash exclaimed.

May sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if it did work."

"Are you serious?" Gary asked.

"Brendan's a trainer who focuses a lot on the power of his pokemon." May revealed

"But this has gotta be against the rules." Ash tried to reason.

"I don't think so." Leaf said. "A trainer fights with one pokemon and asks the other to wait on the sidelines. No rules against it."

* * *

"_Dawn's gonna have a lot of trouble with him."_ May thought.

Back on the battlefield, Brendan decided to go all out against Dawn's pokemon and end the battle quickly.

"Rhyperior, hammer arm Pachirisu into the ground!" He shouted.

"Rhyperior!" The drill pokemon shouted as its hand started to glow red, with Pachirisu on it. Raising its hand once more, it slammed it down into the ground with massive force in the blink of an eye, seriously injuring Pachirisu.

"Pachirisu, get out of there!" Dawn worriedly shouted. "Mamoswine, use ice shard!"

"Mamo!" The twin tusk pokemon shouted as it fired a glowing ball of ice at Rhyperior, allowing the injured Pachirisu to get away.

"Rhy!" The drill pokemon yelled in agony, ice-type moves being amongst its weaknesses.

"Rhyperior, charge down Mamoswine!" Brendan yelled. Following the orders of its trainer, Rhyperior used its bulky arms to block the incoming attacks and ran towards the attacking Mamoswine. Staring down the twin tusk pokemon, Rhyperior continued to block the ice shards.

"Now Rhyperior, use rock wrecker!" Brendan shouted.

"Rhyperior!" The drill pokemon shouted as small stones came out of the holes on its hand and formed a much larger rock which was glowing. Rhyperior threw the rock at the twin tusk pokemon, pushing it back and injuring it severely.

"Mamoswine!" Dawn yelled, worrying for her injured pokemon.

"Get ready to finish it off when you can!" Brendan told his pokemon.

"What's Brendan doing?" Ash asked out loud.

"After rock wrecker, Rhyperior needs to recharge." Brock explained. "When it is finished recharging, it's gonna go finish off Mamoswine."

"Come on Dawn!" Gary shouted for his girlfriend.

"Pachirisu, attack Rhyperior with super fang!" Dawn commanded.

"Pachi pachi!" The elesquirrel pokemon repeated as it once again approached the drill pokemon. Reaching its much taller opponent. Pachirisu's fangs began to glow as they started to bite into Rhyperior's back.

"Rhy!" The drill pokemon yelled, currently unable to shake off its attacker like before.

"_I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this." _Brendan thought. "Shiftry, get in there and attack!"

"Shift!" The wicked pokemon excitedly shouted as it ran to its partner, happy to have been put into the battle at last.

"Shiftry, get Pachirisu off Rhyperior with brick break!" Brendan told it.

"Shif!" It yelled as its arm started glowing white and karate chopped Pachirisu right off Rhyperior's back.

"Pa!" The elesquirrel pokemon said as the wicked pokemons attack caused it to fall off Rhyperior's back and on to the ground.

"Shiftry, finish it off with razor leaf!" Brendan shouted.

"Shiftry!" The wicked pokemon shouted as razor sharp leaves came from its back and attacked the injured Pachirisu, knocking it unconscious.

"Pachirisu is unable to battle." The referee declared. "The green trainer only has one pokemon left to fight with."

* * *

"Dawn's in serious trouble!" Ash shouted from the stands.

"It's not over yet." Leaf calmly said. "Not by a long shot."

"Both Rhyperior and Shiftry are weak against ice-type moves." Gary revealed. "If Dawn plays it right, she can still win."

* * *

"Pachirisu! Return" Dawn said as she held out the pokeball to call back the injured elesquirrel pokemon. "You take a nice rest."

"Mamo!" The twin tusk pokemon shouted as it unleashed a barrage of ice shards at its opponents, a variation of its normal attack method with this move. It was visibly angry at its opponents for their brutality with its partner.

"Mamoswine, what are you doing?" Dawn shouted.

"Rhy!" "Shift!" The pokemon yelled in pain as they reeled from the attacks.

"Rhyperior, charge down Mamoswine!" Brendan shouted. "Shiftry, follow behind!"

"Rhyperior!" The drill pokemon said as it once again charged down Mamoswine, protecting itself as much as possible by blocking the ice shards with its very bulky arms.

"Mamoswine, if you're gonna do that, run to another corner, but keep firing your attack!" Dawn told it.

"Mamo!" The twin tusk pokemon said as it moved backwards around the field, continuing to fire ice shards at the opponents who kept up their pursuit.

* * *

"What's Dawn planning?" May asked.

"She must be trying to lure Shiftry out of hiding." Gary suggested.

* * *

After a few more minutes of chasing, Dawn realized that Brendan was too skilled to allow his pokemon to fall into such an obvious trap. However, before Dawn could get it together, Mamoswine made a fatal error.

"Mamooooo!" The twin tusk pokemon said as it fell down, having tripped itself up by walking backwards for so long. Now on the ground, it was at the mercy of Rhyperior, who had just caught up with it.

"Rhyperior! Finish it off with rock wrecker!" Brendan shouted.

"Rhyperior!" The drill pokemon shouted as it gathered more rocks from the holes in its arms and formed a larger rock with it threw at Mamoswine, knocking it out and ending the battle.

"Mamoswine is unable to battle. The green trainer is out of pokemon." The referee declared. "Victory to the red trainer, Brendan Birch. The red trainer will be the one to proceed to the top 8 round."

"_I can't believe this is happening."_ Dawn thought to herself.

"Return!" Brendan said, holding out his pokeballs and recalling his pokemon. "You guys did great."

* * *

Back in the stands, Brendan rejoined the group sans Leaf, who had gone for her battle which was next. Brendan sat down while Dawn took another seat, far above the rest of the gang.

"Hey guys." Brendan said as he saw the group sitting together.

Ash glared right at Brendan after he sat down next to him. "Hey, Brendan, don't you think you were too rough?" Ash said.

"Rough?" Brendan sarcastically asked. "It's a battle, do what you can to win."

"Yeah bu-"

"It's not like I cheated, right?"

Ash started grumbling. "I know you didn't cheat, but don't you think there was some unnecessary brutality?"

"That's just how I fight!" Brendan shrugged.

Gary did his best to ignore Ash and Brendan and their continuing argument. Instead, he looked up and over at Dawn who stared out at the battlefield, her hands on her cheeks looking to be just inches away from crying. As he looked up at the girl who was normally so cheerful and fun, he felt powerless that he couldn't do anything.

* * *

Back on the field, the referee started up the next battle.

"Will the green trainer please enter the arena?" The called out.

Leaf came out of the preparation room and entered the field.

"Will the red trainer now enter the arena?" The referee called out once again.

Leaf's opponent was a girl slightly roughly the same age as herself. Heeding the call, she entered the arena and stared down Leaf from across the field.

"Now, are both trainers ready for battle?" The referee asked.

"Yes!"

"Absolutely!"

"Both trainers are to release their pokemon now!" The referee shouted.

"Come out!"

"Fight for me!"

On Leaf's side, out came her Dusknoir and a Leafeon. She had previously battled with her Dusknoir in the final preliminary round against a Typhlosion belonging to another trainer. This would be the first time her Leafeon was seen in the tournament.

Leaf's opponent released a Kingler and an Ariados.

"My name's Tamara." Leaf's opponent told her. "What's yours?"

"It's Leaf." She responded.

"Alright, trainers!" The referee started. "There will be no substitutions. Let the battle begin!"

"Dusknoir, use shadow punch on Ariados!" Leaf told it. "Leafeon, attack Kingler with razor leaf."

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it floated on over to Ariados and unleashed a punch in the air, creating a fist of shadow aimed for the long leg pokemon.

"Ariados, jump to dodge!" Tamara ordered. "Kingler, use harden!"

"Ariados!" The long leg pokemon said as it used all four of its legs to jump high up into the air, evading Dusknoir's attack.

"King!" The pincer pokemon said as its body was quickly covered in a white shine. Leafeon's attack struck Kingler head-on and left it injured, even after the defensive move had dissipated.

"Now Ariados, use string shot on Dusknoir!" Tamara shouted.

"Ariados." The long leg pokemon said as it opened its mouth and unleashed a long string-like substance from it that enveloped Dusknoir, sticking it firmly to the ground despite its lack of legs.

"Leafeon, get Dusknoir out of there with bullet seed!" Leaf commanded.

"Leaf!" The verdant pokemon yelled as it unleashed a barrage of orangeish-yellow seeds from its mouth at the strings covering Dusknoir. But before the gripper pokemon was freed, Ariados jumped in the path of the bullet seed.

"Ariados block the bullet seeds from freeing Dusknoir!" Tamara shouted. "Kingler, use crab hammer!"

* * *

Up in the seats, the gang engaged in conversation about the battle.

"She's using Ariados as a shield!" Ash shouted.

"Personally, I'd have used a move like iron defense before trying anything like that." Brendan said. "Without extra defense, Ariados is gonna have a problem later on."

"But Kingler's defensively stronger, so why didn't she try using it instead of Ariados?" Ash asked.

"Probably because Kingler is still a water type and Leafeon's bullet seed could hurt it, even with defensive moves being used." Brock explained. "Remember what happened with the razor leaf?"

Meanwhile, Gary continued to look at Dawn from afar, upset that it looked like there was nothing he could do.

* * *

Back on the battlefield, Ariados prevented Leafeon's bullet seed from freeing Dusknoir. On its trainer's orders, Kingler tried to attack Leafeon with crab hammer but the verdant pokemon kept dodging all of Kingler's attacks while Ariados didn't move.

"Leafeon, back up!" Leaf shouted.

"Go after it, Kingler!" Tamara shouted.

Having backed up from Kingler, who was still approaching, and having him in plain sight, Leaf initiated her attack.

"Leafeon, use bullet seed." Leaf ordered.

"Leaf!" The verdant pokemon shouted as it unleashed another barrage of tiny orangeish-yellow seeds at the approaching pincer pokemon, who failed to defend itself in time and took the attack directly.

"Kinnnng!" The pincer pokemon shouted in pain.

"Now, it's time Leafeon!" Leaf shouted. "Use hyper beam!"

"Leafeon!" The verdant pokemon shouted as it shot a powerful orange beam of energy at the pincer pokemon who was still recovering from the bullet seed attack.

"Kingler!" The pincer pokemon shouted as the powerful hyper beam hit it with great force and sent it flying into the air and crashing into the other side of the field. After the crash, Kingler was revealed to have been knocked unconscious.

"No!" Tamara shouted. "Kingler!"

"Kingler is unable to battle." The referee declared. "The red trainer has only one pokemon left."

"Thank you, Kingler." Tamara said as she called back her unconscious pokemon back into its pokeball. "You take a nice long rest."

"It's not over yet!" Leaf said to her opponent.

"You're right about that!" Tamara responded. "Ariados, use psychic!"

"Ariados!" The long leg pokemon said as its eyes started to glow bright green. It the gained control of Leafeon, lifting its body into the air and shaking it all around, before smashing it into the ground once.

"Leafeon, break out of it!" Leaf shouted.

"Leaf!" The verdant pokemon said as it shook itself wildly, and managed to break out of Ariados' control.

"Ariados! Use string shot!" Tamara shouted.

"Dodge it, Leafeon!" Leaf shouted. "Then use last resort!"

"Leaf!" The verdant pokemon shouted as it jumped up in the air, evading Ariados' attack and preparing to launch its own. Last resort was an attack that could only be used successfully if the user had already used the other moves it knew at the time. Leafeon's attack came down from the air like a speeding bullet, knocking Ariados away and freeing Dusknoir of the string shot.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it was freed.

"Dusknoir, you're free!" Leaf shouted. "Use shadow punch!"

"Dusknoir!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it punched the air, creating a large purple shadow of a fist which punched Ariados square in the face.

"Ariados!" Tamara yelled.

"Leafeon, use hyper beam!" Leaf ordered.

"Dodge it with agility, Ariados!" Tamara shouted.

"Ar!" The long leg pokemon shouted as it ran around the field faster than ever, dodging Leafeon's hyper beam and leaving it and Dusknoir to frantically look around the field in order to get a lock on it.

"Dusknoir, use pursuit!" Leaf told it. "Use it to seek out Ariados!"

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it became a blur, and chased Ariados around the field. Before it was able to catch up with it, Ariados turned around.

"Use psychic!" Tamara shouted.

"Ariados!" The long leg pokemon shouted as its eye began to glow bright green and it took control of Dusknoir's body. Being a ghost-type pokemon, Dusknoir had a natural weakness against psychic-type moves.

"Leafeon, use bullet seed and help Dusknoir!" Leaf shouted.

"Leaf!" The verdant pokemon shouted as it unleashed many tiny orangeish-yellow seeds at Ariados, causing it to lose focus and release Dusknoir from its hold.

"Finish it off with hyper beam, Leafeon!" Leaf told it. "Dusknoir, you use shadow punch!"

"Leafeon!" "Dusknoir!" The pokemon shouted as they blasted the injured Ariados with their powerful attacks. Ariados was immediately knocked unconscious.

"Ariados is unable to battle! The red trainer is out of pokemon!" The referee declared. "Victory to the green trainer, Leaf Green. The green trainer will be the one to move on to the top 8 round."

"Return!" Leaf called, holding out her pokeballs which called back her pokemon. "Thank you Dusknoir. And Leafeon. You guys take it easy for now."

* * *

Leaf returned to the stands just as May was leaving to go to the preparation room. Everyone congratulated her on the victory. She noticed Dawn sitting far away from everyone else and asked her doubts straight up.

"Is Dawn…?" Leaf asked.

"She's really kinda depressed right now." May whispered. "Let's not draw attention to it."

"Congrats Leaf, I'll see you later." Gary got up and said.

"Where are you going?" Leaf asked.

"My match is on the 46th floor, this is the 45th." Gary explained. "You guys stay here."

"But we cou-"

"Just stay here." He asked, subtly pointing his elbow in the direction of the depressed blue-haired coordinator. "For now."

"Alright."

Leaf decided to sit next to Ash, deciding that their situation would get better if they start little by little.

"Hey, Ash."

* * *

After several minutes had passed, the referee started up the next battle.

"Will the green trainer please enter the arena?" The referee called out.

May came out of the preparation room and entered the field.

"Will the red trainer now enter the arena?" The referee called out once again.

May's opponent was a boy, slightly younger than herself dressed in ninja gear. Heeding the call, he entered the arena and stared down Leaf from across the field.

"Now, are both trainers ready for battle?" The referee asked.

"Yeah!"

"You know it!"

"Both trainers are to release their pokemon now!" The referee shouted.

"Come on out!"

"It's time!"

On May's side came out her Beautifly and Wartortle. Neither had been used in the tournament till this point.

The boy released a Beedrill and a Miltank. While the Beedrill seemed hyper, buzzing all around the field, his Miltank appeared to be very lazy, constantly yawning.

"Alright, trainers!" The referee started. "There will be no substitutions. Let the battle begin!"

"Beautifly, use aerial ace on Beedrill!" May shouted.

"Beautifly!" The butterfly pokemon said as its body was covered in a white shine as it came down, ready to hit Beedrill.

"Get out of the way, Beedrill!" The boy shouted. "And then attack with poison sting."

"Bee!" The spear pokemon said as it managed to dodge Beautifly's aerial ace and got behind it. "Beeee!" It said as it shot numerous purple needle-like shots at Beautifly.

"Beautifly!" May shouted as she saw her pokemon take several hits. "Wartortle, help Beautifly with ice beam!"

"Wartortle!" The turtle pokemon said as it unleashed a light blue-colored beam at the spear pokemon, hitting it directly.

"Miltank, get in there and use rollout!" The boy shouted.

"Miiil!" The milk cow pokemon lazily said as it lay down on the field, stretching its arms, refusing to work.

"What are you thinking?" The boy shouted at the top of his voice. "I need you to fight!"

"Milt!" It said once again as it turned on its stomach to lie down.

"Miltank refuses to battle!" The referee shouted. "Red trainer, recall your pokemon!"

* * *

"Refuses to battle?" Brendan asked out loud.

"Why would it refuse to battle right off the bat?" Brock wondered.

"All the better for May." Leaf added.

"_I know how he feels."_ Ash thought.

* * *

"Why, Miltank?" The boy sadly said as he recalled the milk cow pokemon back into its pokeball. "It's up to you, Beedrill!"

"Wartortle, use ice beam!" May commanded. "Beautifly, use aerial ace!"

"Beedrill, dodge them and use poison sting!" The boy shouted.

"Bee!" The spear pokemon said as it narrowly avoided being hit by both Beautifly's aerial ace and Wartortle's ice beam. Raising its needle hands, it began launching a barrage of purple needle-like shots at its opponents.

"Beautifly, try to blow it back with silver wind!" May told it.

"Beauuu!" The butterfly pokemon said as it flapped its wings and a wind with silver crescents in it were released. But it wasn't enough to stop the powerful poison sting attack which hit the butterfly pokemon and its partner directly.

"Beautifly! Wartortle!" May shouted. "Shake it off and go!"

"Beedrill, use twin needle on Beautifly!" The boy shouted.

"Bee!" The spear pokemon said as it stuck out its needle-like hands and pierced Beautifly with them.

"Wartortle, attack with ice beam!" May ordered.

"War!" The turtle pokemon said as it prepared to fire its ice beam attack on the spear pokemon which had knocked down its partner. Creating a clear-blue sphere in its mouth, Wartortle fired it off as a beam and shot it at Beedrill, severely injuring it.

"Beedrill, get up!" The boy shouted as his injured pokemon struggle to find the strength to get back in the air. May's Wartortle, meanwhile, started dancing around, agitating Beedrill, who rose up to prove himself.

"Beedrill, get in close and use poison sting." The boy cried.

"Beautifly use silver wind on Beedrill and Wartortle use rapid spin!" May called.

Beedrill flew forward and prepared to use its purple stinger to shoot at Beautifly. The butterfly pokemon replied by flapping its wings quickly and sending out an elegant white wind that spun the bee around in circles while the turtle pokemon jumped into the air and then into its shell. Using the silver wind attack to propel itself at a speed it had never reached before, Wartortle's rapid spin attack smashed into Beedrill head-on. The spear pokemon was smashed into the ground fast than one could blink.

"Beedrill, no!" The boy shouted.

"Beedrill is unable to battle. The red trainer is out of pokemon." The referee declared. "Victory to the green trainer, May. The green trainer will be the one to move on to the top 8 round."

* * *

At the same time as May's battle started, a battle was beginning on the 46th floor, where trainers fight in the round of 16 simultaneously to the trainers on the 45th floor.

Gary Oak, grandson of pokemon expert Professor Samuel Oak, sat on a bench in the red preparation room with his palms on his knees and his head somewhat low. His girlfriend, yes girlfriend, had been uncharacteristically silent since she lost to the guy he'd been rooming with. She didn't even come to the floor with him to see his match, having stayed on the 45th floor.

After a few minutes in the red preparation room, the light above the door started to glow, telling him that it was not time for him to come out and battle.

* * *

Rayquaza45: So Dawn lost to Brendan and faded into silence. May's opponent had a pokemon that refused to battle. Gary's battle is now taking place. Will he keep his cool, or will his thoughts on his girlfriend get the better of him?

Next time: **Chapter 10: When Gary met 'Dee-Dee'!**

Ever wondered how Gary and Dawn got together? Or even why? Wanna know if Gary makes it to the final eight? Meet the minimum review limit of 60 total and find out! So remember to get me to 60 reviews or chapter 10 will be late. Considering the number of people who have this on story alert, getting to 60 reviews should be nothing!

Till next time, readers!


	10. When Gary Met 'Dee Dee'

Rayquaza45: Clearly I'm not very good at following through on my threats, if you can call them that. So I didn't get 60 review, but so what! I wanted you guys to be able to read this chapter and that was it. So still, PLEASE REVIEW! I want to hear what you have to say. Please!

* * *

**Chapter 10: When Gary met 'Dee-Dee'**

On the battlefield field of the 46th floor of the Olivine City Battle Tower, the referee took the microphone and started talking.

"Will the green trainer approach the field?"

A girl roughly a few years older than Gary came to the trainers square at the edge of the field.

"Will the red trainer approach the field?" The referee asked.

Gary heeded the call and moved to the trainers square. Dressed in his Sinnoh region outfit, he stood in place and elicited cheers from the crowd.

"Now, are both trainers ready for battle?" The referee asked.

"Yeah!"

"Definitely!"

"Both trainers are to release their pokemon now!" The referee shouted.

"Come on out!" The girl shouted as she threw her pokeballs into the air.

"It's time to battle!" Gary shouted as he released his pokemon at the same time.

On Gary's side came his Electivire and his Arcanine. He had previously used his Electivire in the first two preliminary rounds. This would be his Arcanine's first battle of the tournament. Dome Ace Tucker had also used an Arcanine in the opening exhibition.

Gary's opponent released a Muk and an Arbok.

"There will be no substitutions." The referee announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Muk, use body slam on Arcanine!" Gary's opponent yelled. "Arbok, attack Electivire with poison tail!"

"Arcanine, knock it away!" Gary ordered. "Electivire, wait till its closer before we do anything!"

Muk oozed his way towards Arcanine and stretched upwards to perform the attack. But Arcanine swung its tail and sent the pile of ooze backwards.

Arbok went to attack but Electivire but seemed to disappear. Gary and Electivire gasped and then looked at the side of the field that Arbok had gone to.

"Electivire, look out!" Gary wailed.

Electivire turned as Arbok got closer and closer and nailed it with poison tail. Arbok quickly fled back to its trainer's side of the field and coiled itself. Electivire got back on its feet and moved towards Arcanine.

"Arcanine, use fire spin on Muk!" Gary yelled.

"Arcanine!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it opened its mouth and a flame was released at Muk. As the flame reached the opponent, it curled around it in a tornado, trapping the sludge pokemon in a vortex of fire.

"Good job Arcanine, and make sure it stays like that!" Gary commended

"Arbok, attack Electivire with crunch!" Gary's opponent yelled.

"Electivire, protect!" Gary commanded.

"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it put up a transparent green barrier around its body, which absorbed the power of the crunch attack and left the purple snake helpless.

"Electivire, use thunder punch!" Gary ordered.

"Elec!" The thunderbolt pokemon said as its right fist began to glow a bright yellow color as it smashed said fist into Arbok's face, sending the purple snake flying.

"Arbok, no!" The girl shouted. "Muk, you have to escape the fire spin!"

"Muk!" The sludge pokemon said as it struggle to move around in the fiery tornado. Eventually exiting it, it raised it's 'arms', signaling its willingness to continue the fight.

"Now use a thunder punch on Muk, quickly!" Gary told Electivire.

Electivire ran forwards and punched Muk right on the head but the sludge pokemon growled and smashed itself forwards into Electivire's chest at point-blank range. Arcanine jumped out of the way as Electivire rolled backwards, its limbs spread out awkwardly.

As Electivire struggled to get up, Muk started to move its body in a very odd and somewhat disgusting manner, almost like dancing. Gary's opponent grinned but got serious as the legendary pokemon suddenly charged straight for Muk.

"Watch out!" The girl screamed as Arcanine tackled the sludge pokemon with all its might despite Gary not giving an order. Arcanine began snarling as the sludge pokemon began to get up once again and its partner, Arbok, rejoined it, having recovered from Electivire's thunder punch.

"Arcanine use Flamethrower." Gary said smugly.

"Dodge it guys!" The girl shouted.

Muk's body didn't move even as Arcanine's attack came for it. Arbok quickly managed to dodge the attack but this allowed the full power of the attack to hit Muk head-on, knocking it out of the battle.

"Muk is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "The green trainer has only one pokemon left."

"_And that's gonna be all I need."_ The girl thought. "Arbok, use mud bomb on Electivire!"

"Arrrbok!" The purple snake said as it opened its mouth and shot large balls of mud at the thunderbolt pokemon.

"Electivire, protect!" Gary ordered.

"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it put up a transparent green barrier around its body which absorbed the force of the attacks. Now unharmed, it was ready to strike back.

"Arcanine, use take down." Gary commanded. "Electivire, follow behind Arcanine!"

"Arcanine!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it ran towards its opponent, its partner following closely behind. Upon reaching its opponent, Arcanine prepared to slam into it with great force.

"Arbok, use glare!" Gary's opponent shouted.

"Arrrbok!" The purple snake shouted as its eyes began to glow a bright blue color that. Catching a glimpse of said eyes, Arcanine was stopped in its tracks. Glare was a move that paralyzed opponents. But Gary had foreseen such a problem.

"Electivire, jump over Arcanine and use Thunder on Arbok!" He ordered.

"Arbok, use glare again!" The girl ordered.

Arbok attempted to use the move once again, but found that it was unable to do so. With its last hope for victory failing, Arbok could only look around as its opponent, who was impossible to directly hit, was prepating to fight.

"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it used it very strong legs to jump over its paralyzed partner. The balls on its antennae became surrounded by yellow electricity and a massive blast of electricity was fired at Arbok, knocking it unconscious and winning the match for Gary.

"Arbok is unable to battle. The green trainer is out of usable pokemon." The referee declared. "Victory to the red trainer, Gary Oak of Pallet Town. The red trainer will be the one who will move on to the top 8 round."

* * *

Back on the bottom floor of the Battle Tower, Gary met up with Ash, Leaf, Brendan, May and, of course, Lucas. The stage where Wallace or Tucker would usually appear has its curtains closed. The six of them were the only members of their group there, since Dawn and Brock had already been eliminated.

"Hi guys." Gary greeted everyone, even Lucas.

"Hey, Gary." Leaf said.

"How was your match?" Ash asked.

"I won, of course." He proudly responded. "And….Dawn?"

"She already left." May explained. "We trainers stayed behind but everyone else left a while ago."

All of a sudden, the lights shone brightly on the stage. The curtains opened up, revealing Dome Ace Tucker, standing there with several cameramen.

"Congratulations, trainers!" He said. "You have passed on to the round of the final 8!"

Unlike previous rounds, nobody interrupted his speech with cheering.

"The match specifications for the round of the final 8 are behind you!" He announced to everyone's surprise.

The eight trainers turned around and saw a very large TV screen come down from the ceiling. The size had to be at least 75" by 70".

"That's impressive." Lucas admitted.

The screen first showed the headline 'Battle #1' and quickly flashed to a picture of Ash and one of Lucas, signifying that they were to battle one another.

"Ash, we're battling each other." Lucas said.

"_Lucky Ash!" _Gary thought.

The screen then showed the headline 'Battle #2' and quickly flashed to a picture of Brendan and one of a male trainer unknown to the group.

"_So I'm fighting him?" _Brendan asked himself.

The screen then showed the headline 'Battle #3' and quickly flashed to a picture of Leaf and one of a light-blue haired trainer whom nobody knew, except for May.

"_Leaf's fighting her?"_ May asked herself.

The final headline was 'Battle #4' which flashed to a picture of May and then one of Gary.

"Had to happen sooner or later." Gary pointed out.

May just shrugged. "Let's give it our best!"

"Well then trainers, you've seen who you will be fighting." Tucker started. "Your matches will be exactly two days from today on the 50th floor of this tower. As a reminder, this round is a set of 3-on-3 battles."

Tucker paused again, expecting some cheers, but nothing happened.

He used a 'fake cough' and put away his microphone. "The best of luck to you all."

* * *

Back at Leaf's vacation house, everyone was doing their thing. Ash was training with Brock on the outside field. Leaf and May continued their secret discussions in the attic. Brendan was in the kitchen, drinking lemonade to see how much his tongue could fuzz up.

Dawn remained locked up in her room just as Brock had been not long ago. Gary sat on a couch, thinking about everything that had happened between Dawn and him since the day they met.

* * *

(Several months ago, in the Sinnoh region)

Ash, Brock and Dawn had been traveling together for some time now. Ash had just won his second Sinnoh League badge from the gym in Eterna City. Dawn had been starting out as a pokemon coordinator and had won one contest ribbon so far.

One day, by complete chance, Gary had encountered Ash and his friends for the first time in the region. He had been working with Professor Rowan in order to save a group of Sheildon from a maniacal woman named Hunter J who sells pokemon for profit.

Upon finding out that Gary was the grandson of Professor Samuel Oak, Dawn started going completely gaga over him. She constantly pestered him for poetry, thinking he was also a poet like his grandfather. The he wasn't, even stating so himself, he couldn't help but be flattered by the compliments and requests of a girl like her.

When he decided to go after Hunter J after she managed to get away with a Sheildon, Dawn tried her best to stop him but gave up in the wake of his determination. After finally accepting that he was going, she told him to be careful. He seemed to take pride in the fact that she told him, rather than Ash, to be careful

* * *

"_After that, I kinda couldn't get her outta my head."_ Gary thought to himself back in reality.

Brendan had now joined him in the livingroom without his notice, having drunk all the lemonade he could handle.

"Gary, you alright?" Brendan asked him.

"Huh?" Gary asked, not having realized that Brendan was there. "Uhh…yeah, I'm good."

Was he really? Not exactly.

* * *

After stopping Hunter J and saving the Sheildon, Gary had met up with Ash once again. Ash had been training with his Gligar, who just couldn't seem to get stronger.

Immediately after seeing Gary, Dawn went gaga once again, requesting a poem. Later on, he even made a rhyme without intending to, which made her quite happy.

He and Ash even had a battle to see if Gary could help out with Gligar's confidence, but they ended up scaring it with Umbreon's shadow ball. Seeing Gligar's plight, Gary offered something to help out: a razor fang which would make Gligar evolve into a Gliscor. Gligar was more than willing to accept but Ash, of course, refused, believing that evolution was no substitute for hard work.

Dawn even suggested that Ash be more like Gary when it came to caring for his pokemon, something Ash didn't take to very well. Gary couldn't exactly hide his enthusiasm at being considered superior to Ash, considering that Ash had beaten him in every official competition they'd entered together, having surpassed him in the Indigo League and beating him in the Johto League. Least of all, he couldn't his enthusiasm when a cute girl was the instigator of it, especially when it made Ash jealous.

A while afterwards, due to the interference of three bumbling idiots, Ash finally allowed his Gligar to use the razor fang to evolve into a Gliscor and save Ash from a huge fall.

By the end of it all, Ash thanked Gary for everything he'd done. Dawn commented once again on a rhyme Gary ended up making. But this wasn't the same type of rhyme as before; it was an intentional one that Gary had thought of himself. Seeing the huge smile on her face made him crack one as well. They departed for their separate ways once again, hoping to meet up once again.

* * *

Back in reality, Gary turned to Brendan, who was washing down the lemonade with a surprisingly large sandwich.

"Hey, Brendan." Gary started. "Is Dawn still in her room?"

"Yeah, I think so." Brendan said with his mouth full.

"Alright then." Gary thought to himself. "Thanks."

* * *

At Dawn's door on the second floor of the house, Gary started knocking.

"Dawn? It's Gary!" Gary called. "Can I come in?"

Without even answering, Dawn opened the door. She was wearing her pink pajamas and her dark blue hair was somewhat tufted.

"Yes." She responded with little or no emotion. "You can."

All the rooms of the house were the same. The only difference was the positioning of various furniture, beds and closets. Gary's room had two beds since he shared it with Brendan. Dawn want back into her bed and covered up with her blanket.

Dawn's Piplup was across the room and couldn't bear to see its trainer so sad. But managed to look up when Gary's cell phone began to ring.

_Sometimes she's hot  
Sometimes I'm cold  
Sometimes my head wants to explode  
But when I think about it I'm so in love with her! Every other time!_

"Grandpa?" Gary asked as he answered his phone. "I'll call you back?"

Gary shut off his cell phone and sat on the edge of Dawn's bed as she lay in it, her entire body up to her neck covered in her blanket.

"Dawn?" He asked. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Not now." She responded.

"It's not gonna go down like that." Gary said. "The longer you keep it up, the worse it'll get when it comes out in the future."

"You seem to know that pretty well." She pointed out.

"I know a thing or two." Gary told her, referring to how Ash reacted 6 years after a picture of Leaf kissing him was discovered.

"Well…it's just about Brendan's force in our battle." She came out.

"Force?"

"I'm not a prideful person, so I can admit that he'd probably have won our battle." Dawn ranted. "But he just went insane in our battle."

"You told him he shouldn't go easy on you." Gary said.

"That's not what I meant." Dawn wailed. "There's a difference between giving your all and battling just to humiliate your opponent."

"True enough."

"And then there was that time he insulted Pachirisu." Dawn went on. "He needed Pikachu but when Ash pointed out that I had Pachirisu, he called it pitiful."

"Yeah, that was crossing the line."

"That was when I decided to use Pachirisu against him if we fought." Dawn explained.

"But was that smart?" Gary asked. "Brendan's powerful. When it comes to the pure power of his pokemon, he probably trumps the rest of us."

"I don't get it." Dawn admitted.

"You wanted to prove to him that Pachirisu wasn't weak, but did you chose the right outlet?" Gary asked.

"Outlet?"

"You tried to prove him wrong in an official battle, the result of which could've changed everything." Gary went on. "But you took an unnecessary risk since you knew that the pokemon Brendan had were really strong."

"If I'd won, it'd have been the biggest humiliation of his life." Dawn said, trying to defend herself.

"Yeah but that was a big 'if' and you knew it." Gary told her. "Couldn't you have just confronted him about it straight up?"

"I….guess." Dawn admitted.

"So will you come out of here with me?" Gary asked her.

"Yeah." She said, finally smiling.

"You know, this is almost like how we first got together." Gary reminded her. "It was just after the Sinnoh League ended."

"Wow, you're right." Dawn told him. "Kinda strange."

* * *

(Several months ago)

The Sinnoh League had just ended and Ash was out. Though happy with how far he'd come, he couldn't help but be disappointed by not winning. Though admittedly, he'd enjoyed battling that trainer who'd entered with a Darkrai. It was the first time he ever battled a legendary pokemon in a league competition, having only fought such pokemon in the Kanto Battle Frontier.

Ash, Dawn and Brock stayed for the closing ceremonies and left the island afterwards and headed back to the mainland. They briefly took a rest stop at Veilstone City and said their goodbyes to Ash's rival Paul. After losing in the league, Paul vowed to change his ways and work harder to be a better trainer; he would work with his pokemon and discover where true strength lies.

Ash's other rival, Barry, went to the Sinnoh Battle Frontier to visit his father, Tower Tycoon Palmer, the head of the regional Battle Tower. Having lost the conference, Barry decided he needed to train harder and adopt a hybrid of effort and caring for pokemon.

At the pokemon centre in Veilstone City, Ash and the gang had taken back their pokemon from Nurse Joy, but as they were leaving they noticed a familiar face.

"Hey there!" A brown-haired boy in a black shirt called out.

Ash turned around. "Gary?"

"How ya doin' Ash?" He asked. "I watched the Sinnoh League on TV."

"Then you noticed the Darkrai?" Ash asked.

"Never mind tha-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the blue-haired coordinator showed up in the space between Ash and Gary and started it all.

"Hi, Gary!" She said with enthusiasm.

"Oh, hi Dawn." Gary responded awkwardly to the girl who was right up in his face. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, so how have you been?" She responded.

"I'm great too, so how has your work been?" She went on.

"Uhh…good to hear." Gary struggled to say. "My research is going great."

Dawn pestered Gary for a few more minutes. Ash suggested that they all go out to eat since it didn't seem like Dawn was going to let up anytime soon. Brock accompanied them as well.

At a cafe, Pikachu leapt up on the table. Dawn continued to talk to Gary, not allowing Ash or Brock to get in any words with him so they ordered something. But all of a sudden, a large green robot with a dome-shaped body and pincer-like arms came up the street.

Three shadowy figures came out of the top of the robot and struck a very familiar and irritating pose.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Meowth's the name!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"_It's been a while since I heard them do that one."_ Ash thought.

For several moments, the passersby on the street looked like the trio as if they were a gang of circus performers. After a few more minutes of silence, Jessie spoke up.

"What's the matter with you twerps?" She shouted in an insane rage. "Shouldn't you be running and screaming?"

Ash got confused. "When have we ever run away from you?"

"Pi-Ka!"

"Admittedly, it's often us who runs away an-" James tried to say before he was cut off.

"Whose side are you on?" Jessie shouted at him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Dawn asked them from the street.

"I think we odda get what we came for and get out butts outta here!" Meowth suggested.

"I think you're right." Jessie said. "Let's go for it!" She said as she took out a remote control and started pressing buttons.

"Pi-Kaaaa!" The electric mouse pokemon shouted as one of the robots claws grabbed it and pulled it back.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Ash told it.

"Piiika-Chuuuuuuuu!" It shouted as electrical energy was released from its body.

"Haha, twerps, you should know by now that we'd only use an electricity-proof device to catch Pikachu!" Jessie taunted.

"Let's get outta here!" Meowth said as the giant robot drove back down the street with Pikachu captive.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he collapsed on the ground.

"Ash, come on, we'll get Pikachu back!" Brock told him. "They wouldn't have gotten far in that gigantic thing."

"They'll need a big place for that machine of theirs." Gary said. "We could scout out the city for all possible areas."

"Or we could just follow their tire tracks." Dawn suggested, pointing out tire tracks that the robot left as it made its escape.

"Alright." Ash said, finally getting on his feet. "Let's go get 'em!"

As expected, Team Rocket was eating in the middle of a large meadow. Their robot had made deep tracks in the grass. Pikachu was trapped in a glass box which seemed to absorb any electricity thrown at it.

"So have you called the boss yet?" Jessie asked Meowth.

"Not yet." Meowth replied. "But neva worry! We'll be back in time to give Pikachu to da boss!"

"I hope we can get on with it." James added. "Why did we stop?"

"We stopped because we need to eat!" Jessie shouted.

At that, Ash, Gary, Brock and Dawn showed up on the meadow, ran across and confronted Team Rocket face to face.

"Twerps?" Jessie shouted. "How did you find us?"

"You left a trail!" Gary told them.

"That was your worst robot yet!" Dawn shouted.

"How dare yew twerps insult my inventions?" Meowth shouted. "I odda use it on all a yaz!"

"We'll be doing a lot more than interrupting." Gary said as he threw out his pokeball. "Come on out, Blastoise!"

"You got that right." Ash said as he did the same. "Come on out, Torterra!"

"Get in there, Piplup!" Dawn told it.

"You too!" Brock said as he threw his own pokeball. "Croagunk!"

The light from the pokeballs came out and formed themselves into Blastoise and Torterra while Piplup and Croagunk came right next to them.

"Seviper!" Jessie shouted, releasing two pokeballs. "And Yanmega!"

"Go Carnivine!" James shouted as he threw out his pokeball.

As Carnivine came out, it latched on to James' head with its mouth.

"Carnivine, no!" James frantically shouted. Finally after it got off, he commenced his attack. "Carnivine use bullet seed."

"Carnivine!" The bug catcher pokemon shouted as it unleashed a barrage of yellow seeds at its opponents. Hitting all of them but only managing to minorly injure Piplup.

"Torterra, leaf storm" Ash commanded.

"Tor!" The continent pokemon boomed as leaves came off its back and it fired them at Team Rocket.

"Wobbuffet!" Jessie shouted. "Get in there and counter for once!"

"Wobba!" The pokemon said as its body began to glow. The glow on its body repelled the leaf storm back towards the pokemon.

"Torterra!" Ash called out as his pokemon was clipped to the side by the returning leaf storm.

"Seviper, use poison tail!" Jessie ordered. "Yanmega, use ancient power!"

"Blastoise, use hydro pump!" Gary ordered.

"Torterra, use energy ball on Carnivine." Ash told it.

"Croagunk, get around Seviper's tail and use poison jab!" Brock told it.

"Blass!" The shellfish pokemon shouted as streams of water came out of the cannons in its shell and blasted their way through the ancient power attack used by Yanmega and struck down the ogre darner pokemon with extreme force.

Meanwhile, Croagunk powered up its right fist and leapt around the fang snake pokemon, Seviper, doing all it could to try and get a clear shot and avoid the poison tail attack.

"Blastoise, help out Croagunk!" Gary commanded.

"Blastoise!" The shellfish pokemon boomed as it retreated into its shell and spun itself towards Seviper and Croagunk.

"Seviiiiper!" The fang snake pokemon shouted as it took the full force of Blastoise's attack. Croagunk, being the agile pokemon that it is, managed to get out of the way and allow Blastoise to get a clear shot at Seviper, knocking it out.

Meanwhile, Torterra had already knocked out Carnivine with its powerful energy ball and was now at the back of the machine, tearing it apart to save Pikachu.

At the same time, Piplup recovered from Carnivine's bullet seed and went to help Torterra.

"Great job, Piplup!"

"Keep going, Torterra!" Ash cheered.

"Yanmega, get back up and use steel wing!" Jessie commanded.

"Yannnn!" The ogre darner pokemon zipped by, recovering from Blastoise's attack. It wings began to glow white as it dived down from the air and attacked Piplup with its wings.

"Piiiplup!" The penguin pokemon shouted as it reeled in pain.

"Croagunk, attack Yanmega with poison jab!" Brock ordered.

"Blastoise!" Gary shouted. "You get in there too."

"Croa!" "Blass!" The pokemon said as they went to the machine to fight off Yanmega and save Pikachu. Blastoise knelt down in order to give Croagunk an edge over the flying Yanmega.

"Cragunk!" The toxic mouth pokemon shouted as it jumped on Blastiose's back and leapt into the air with its hand held high and smashed Yanmega right into the ground with its powerful poison smash.

Torterra had almost ripped the machine to pieces and freed Pikachu. They, along with Croagunk and Blastoise lined up and prepared their final attack.

"Poison sting!"

"Leaf storm!" Ash shouted. "Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"

"Hydro pump!"

"Croooa!" "Tor!" "Piiiiika-Chuuuuuuuu!" "Blassstoise!" The pokemon all roared as they unleashed their attacks at Team Rocket and their defeated pokemon. Blowing up what was left of the robot Torterra had already ripped apart, the attacks caused an explosion, resulting in Team Rocket and their defeated pokemon being blown away.

"I guess our foolproof plan wasn't so foolproof after all!"

"But who's the fool, us or dem?"

"Does that really matter now?"

"We're blasting off again!"

Moments later, Team Rocket was out of sight and everyone recalled their pokemon.

"Are you okay, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pi-Ka!"

But all else was not okay, as Dawn was holding her Piplup in her arms. It had been seriously injured in the fight and needed to be taken to the pokemon centre.

* * *

Upon arrival, Dawn raced in ahead of the boys and got Nurse Joy's attention.

"Nurse Joy!" Dawn said, holding out Piplup. "It was injured, can you help it?"

"Oh dear." Nurse Joy said in a tone that didn't exactly make Dawn happy. "These injuries are quite serious."

"So what's going to happen?" Dawn worriedly asked.

"It can heal." Nurse joy said. "But it'll have to stay the night."

"Then we'll stay the night." Dawn said, turning to the others.

* * *

Late that night, at around 11:00pm, Dawn was still in the pokemon centre room while the boys had gone outside for some reason or another. As she lay in her pajamas, hoping Piplup would recover fast, the door opened to a surprising face.

"Hey, Dawn." Gary said. "Still awake?"

Gary looked somewhat different from before. As he walked over to the open window and turned back to look at Dawn, his hair and face started to glow bright blue in the moonlight. His hair swished around in the wind as he ran his fingers through it to correct it. He stood tall and broad shouldered and looked like he was going to carry Dawn off into the sky right away.

"Yeah." Dawn meekly said. "I'm still awake."

He immediately sat on her bed, next to her. He started running his fingers through her hair as he'd done to his.

"You're really….."

"Gary." Dawn started. "I know I've acted like a complete ditz around you and I-"

"I like that." Gary interrupted.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"You know what I've done as a researcher and still you want me to be more." Gary explained. "People expect a lot from me, but you want me to be what I am and do what I can do."

"Gary."

"Dawn."

Words lead to actions, actions would lead to more actions. One thing lead to another and eventually it was done.

The next morning was bright and sunny. Dawn was informed by Nurse Joy that Piplup had fully recovered from its injuries and was given back to her shortly after a final check up.

After much deliberation, the group of four decided to travel to Ash and Gary's hometown of Pallet and check out the options from there.

* * *

(Present day)

"So are you coming?" Gary asked Dawn, who'd stopped in her place.

"Huh?" Dawn said as she came back to reality. "Yeah, I am."

* * *

Back downstairs, Gary went to to his room and Dawn convinced him that she was okay. Dawn met up with May and Leaf who were hanging out in the attic.

"Hey!" Dawn called out to the two girls.

"Hey." "Hi."

"So have you talked about everything with Ash?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah." Leaf started. "May pretty much made me realize that Ash isn't that complicated and that our feelings are mutual."

"So what next?" Dawn questioned.

"I'll work out something or another with Ash." Leaf explained. "But I won't make the same mistakes I made last time. Tricking him wasn't a good idea."

"You're right about that." May happily agreed.

"So how are you gonna do it next time?" Dawn asked.

"Maybe just the basic approach?" Leaf suggested.

On the outside training field, Ash trained with Infernape while Brock watched over him. While training, Brendan came out of the house and approached Ash, having something he needed to say.

"Ash?"

The raven haired trainer turned around, seeing the boy with the emerald bandana. His red eyes stared right into Ash's.

"What is it, Brendan?" Ash asked.

"Remember what went down with you and Leaf that night?" Brendan asked.

"Yeah." Ash responded. "What about it?"

"Pi-Ka." The electric mouse added from Ash's shoulder.

"I just did what I did to help Leaf." Brendan said. "I'm really not the kind of person who'd do that and enjoy it. In fact, I asked Leaf if that was really necessary."

"Well I understand why she came up with the idea since some of the places we went wouldn't allow Pikachu to come." Ash went on. "But the fact is, you said you needed Pikachu when you didn't and when I left, you left him alone in my bedroom!"

"That's not true!" Brendan defended himself. "I took Pikachu all around with me while you were out but it went to your room all by itself. I tried to get it but it didn't wanna come with me."

"Pikachu, is that true?" Ash asked him friend.

"Piiiika." The electric mouse said.

"Well then…." Ash hesitated.

"Are we okay?" Brendan asked.

"Uhh…yeah." Ash happily responded as he held out his hand.

"Glad to hear it." Brendan said as he shook Ash's hand.

Brock, meanwhile, was off in the corner crying 'man-tears' over the scene.

* * *

The next day, Ash trained with Infernape a little more. When he saw him, Brendan felt like he had to say something.

"Ash, you're battling Lucas, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I am." Ash told him.

"Lucas has quite a few fire-type pokemon with him." Brendan revealed

"So he's a fire-type user?" Ash asked.

"No not exactly, but his starter was an Infernape and when I battled him in Sinnoh, he used quite a few fire-types against me but it wasn't a big problem for me since my Swampert is quite resistant to them." Brendan explained. "You might want to bring a few water or ground-types to fight against him with."

"I guess that'd make sense." Ash admitted. Several seconds later, he ran off. "I'm going to the pokemon centre!" He shouted from afar.

* * *

Down at the pokemon centre, Ash had called up Professor Oak and explained his situation.

"Oh, well, Ash my boy, that's a good idea." The old man said. "Which pokemon would you like me to send?"

"_I probably should've thought about this s'more."_ Ash thought. _"I guess they're as good as choice as any."_

"Ummm….Ash?" The professor called out.

"Sorry, Professor Oak." Ash said. "I'll use Totodile and Buizel."

"Very well then, Ash." The professor responded. "I'll need you to send back two of your pokemon as well."

"Alright then." Ash responded.

"I'll have them sent over in a jiffy, Ash." The professor assured him. "And all the best in the tournament."

"_Thanks for everything Glalie and Snorlax." _Ash thought as he put two pokeballs on the transporter. The pokeballs were zapped away and, several seconds later, two other ones appeared in their place. Ash took the pokeballs in his hand and attached them to the pokeball holders on his belt.

"Time to go back." Ash said to himself, since he had to train even more.

* * *

As Ash exited the pokemon centre, he saw somebody out of the corner of his eye that he vaguely recognized. It was the boy who had battled May in the tournament. He could only fight with his Beedril because his Miltank refused to obey his orders.

"Hey there." Ash said to the boy.

"Hey!" The boy shouted. "I remember you! You were in the tournament!"

"Yeah, I was." Ash said.

"I was in it too, but I couldn't get very far." The boy sadly whined.

"Well, what do you think the problem was?" Ash asked, genuinely trying to help the boy.

"I dunno." He revealed. "Miltank was so powerful when I saw my friend battle with him."

"Wait, so Miltank isn't your pokemon?" Ash asked.

"Nope." The boy said. "I borrowed it from my friend when I saw how strong it was."

"Pokemon battling is all about trusting your pokemon and them trusting you." Ash explained. "If you haven't built up a strong bond with your pokemon, it won't obey you, trust me."

"So, was I wrong?" The boy asked.

"You see…..." Ash said. "I think borrowing your friends Miltank wasn't a very good idea since you had no experience with it."

"I guess…." The boy admitted.

"Work hard with your pokemon, and they'll do everything they can for you."

* * *

Back at Leaf's vacation house, Ash brought out Totodile and Buizel and started training them with the same accuracy methods he'd used for Snorlax. Both were shooting their water gun attacks at the wooden targets.

"Let's keep going Totodile!" Ash shouted. "You too, Buizel!"

From the inside, Leaf was watching Ash train. She was alone as Dawn and May were with Gary and Brendan.

"_Tomorrow, you'll get to put your training to the test, Ash." _Leaf thought to herself.

* * *

Back upstairs, when Brendan tried to get into his room, only to find that the door was locked, he started banging on it harshly.

"Gary, let me in!" He shouted.

One sound was heard and a muffled voice started speaking.

"I really don't think you wanna come in right now, dude." The voice said.

"Are you serious?" Brendan said, having a suspicion about what was going on in the room.

"Yeah." The voice said.

"Fine but you better not screw up my half of the room!" Brendan shouted.

"I'll keep that in mind." The voice assured him.

"_Oh he is so gonna get it when he comes out!" _Brendan thought. _"I wonder where May is. She'd probably wanna hear about this thing going on!"_

* * *

Rayquaza45: Oh boy, what's Brendan gonna say to everyone? So..did you like the chapter? Well then right a review about it and tell me EVERYTHING. There's no minimum review limit but I hope you'll review to make me happy. And maybe I'll upload then next chapter faster the more reviews I get. So keep reviewing!

Next time: **Chapter 11: I Think The Tower Moved**

The top eight round of the Battle Spirits Tournament begins and Ash has to fight Lucas. Who will come out victorious?

Till next time!


	11. I Think The Tower Moved

Rayquaza45: Hey there readers! I know you've been waiting for it so here it is. The 11th chapter, with this we begin the second half of the overall story. So here I am, hoping that you're all gonna read and review this fanfic cause I could really use some positive reviews as of now. I recently had my first flamer who simply reviewed in order to trash some of the ships and thinks they're being cool by acting like a deranged child. But enough of that!

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it!

* * *

**Chapter 11: I Think The Tower Moved**

The next day had come quickly. On the 50th floor of the Olivine City Battle Tower, the matches for the top 8 round of the Battle Spirits Tournament were to be conducted. Ash, Brendan, Leaf, Gary and May were the only members of the gang who'd got to the round. Even still, Brock and Dawn came to see the battle alongside everyone else in the audience seats. Ash's battle was the first of the day and was against an old acquaintance of his friend Dawn, a boy named Lucas.

Ash waited in the green preparation room with Pikachu by his side, doing his best to mentally prepare himself for his battle. Yesterday, Brendan told him that water-type pokemon would be effective against Lucas's team, which contained many powerful fire pokemon. Still, feeling the need to maintain diversity, Ash carried one pokemon not of the water-type with him.

Suddenly, Ash heard the referee call him, the green trainer, to the battlefield. The referee sounded somewhat different from the others and yet familiar. The roar of the crowd was more thunderous than the previous round. As Ash entered the field, he understood why he recognized the voice just as the referee turned to call out his opponent.

"Will the Red Trainer please enter the arena?" Called Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier, the acting referee of the round.

"Tucker, you're the referee?" Ash asked the man in the white and purple costume.

"That's correct." Tucker told him. "I'll be hosting the battles for this round as well as being referee."

"Hi, Ash!" Lucas, Ash's opponent said as he approached the field from the preparation room.

"Hey there, Lucas." Ash replied.

"Now, Ash and Lucas, are you both ready for battle?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah!"

"Sure am!"

"Now both trainers are to release their pokemon now!" Tucker announced.

"Come on out!" Ash shouted as he threw his pokeball into the air.

"Let's get on with it!" Lucas shouted as he released his pokemon at the same time.

On Ash's side came his Buizel. Just yesterday, he'd called Professor Oak and requested that he send Buizel over for the tournament since Brendan told Ash that Lucas uses fire-type pokemon quite often.

As Ash expected, Lucas released a fire-type, the blast pokemon, Magmortar.

"Alright you two, this is a three-on-three battle and there will be no substitutions." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Buizel, water pulse!" Ash ordered.

"Fire blast." Lucas said unemotionally.

"Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon said as it put its hands together and formed a blue ball. It then threw the ball at the floor and it glided on the ground across a stream of water heading for Magmortar which raised its arm which made its hand disappear into its arm cannon. A ball of reddish-orange fire then appeared in front of the cannon and Magmortar fired it at the water pulse attack sent by Buizel, evaporating it and creating a large amount of steam which covered the arena in a blanket of thick steam.

"Buizel, clear it away with sonic boom!" Ash told it.

"Bui Bui!" It said as its tailed began to glow white and sent a large white shockwave that pierced the steam and cleared up the view.

"Thanks for that, Ash." Lucas chuckled. "Magmortar, use lava plume!"

"Mag!" The blast pokemon shouted as it created a small explosion which produced a mix of fire and smog which were aimed for Buizel.

"Buizel, counter shield!" Ash yelled.

"Buizel!" The sea weasel pokemon shouted as it quickly spun its body around in a 360 degree angle while using water gun at the same time. The attack defended Buizel from the incoming lava plume attack as well as splashing Magmortar heavily.

"Nice one Ash, never seen that before." Lucas smiled. "Magmortar, use fire punch!"

"Buizel dodge it!" Ash yelled.

"Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon said as Magmortar attempted to hit it with its flaming fist. Magmortar continued to aim for Buizel, but the orange sea weasel was too fast for the large and bulky fire-type.

"Strike again with a flamethrower!" Lucas cried.

"Buizel use water gun, now!" Ash said.

"Bui!" "Mag!" The pokemon shouted as their attacks collided with one another. Both of them kept staring the other down for several moments as the attacks continued to flow from their mouths and collide with the other one. Eventually, Buizel's water gun managed to get the better of Magmortar's flamethrower and overpowered it, sending a stream of water into the blast pokemon's face and knocking it down.

"Magmortar!" Lucas shouted. "You have to get back up!"

"Maaag!" The blast pokemon shouted as it got back to its feet and assumed a fighting pose.

"Awesome, Magmortar!" Lucas cheered. "Use fire blast again!"

"Mag!" It said as a ball of reddish-orange fire appeared in its arm cannon and was preparing to launch it at Buizel.

"Buizel, use aqua jet!" Ash told it.

"Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon shouted as its body became covered in water. It then levitated itself into the air and sped towards the blast pokemon, intending on tackling it full-on. Upon approach, the aqua jet collided with Magmortar's fire blast right in its face, creating smog similar to before.

"Buizel!"

"Magmortar!"

Both trainers were worried about their pokemon as the smog showed no signs of lifting at the moment. If anyone had won, they didn't know it yet. But after a few moments, the smog started to clear, revealing both Buizel and Magmortar face to face, both panting heavily and visibly damaged from the last attack.

* * *

Up in the audience seats, Ash's friends were discussing the match.

"Lucas is pretty tough." Leaf said.

"Sure is." Brendan said. "Ash is gonna have his hands full."

"I wouldn't count anyone out, just yet." Brock stated.

"_Come on, Ash!" _Gary thought. _"Beat him!"_

* * *

"Buizel, use water gun!" Ash told it.

"Magmortar, use flame thrower!" Lucas ordered.

"Buiii!" "Maaag!" The pokemon shouted as their attacks collided with one another just as before. Now both pokemon were more exhausted than before and struggling to outlast their opponent and win.

"_Magmortar's pretty powerful, but it's slow." _Ash thought. _"Maybe I should have Buizel do something else."_

"_Magmortar's at a serious disadvantage."_ Lucas thought. _"I might not be able to keep this up much longer."_

"Buizel, break off the water gun and get out of the path of the flamethrower!" Ash ordered.

"Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon said as it stopped using its water gun and ran off into the corner, escaping the path of Magmortar's flamethrower.

"Go after it, Magmortar!" Lucas told it.

"Mag!" The blast pokemon said as it lumbered on over to the orange sea weasel.

"Wait for it!" Ash said.

"Use fire blast!" Lucas ordered.

"Now, Buizel, use aqua jet, fast!" Ash shouted.

"Bui Bui!" The sea weasel pokemon shouted as it quickly covered its body in water and quickly tackled Magmortar before it had a chance to unleash its fire blast. The blast pokemon was knocked down by the attack but it got up soon after and struggled to stay up.

"Magmortar!" Lucas shouted.

"Maaag!" The blast pokemon shouted as it fell to the ground in defeat.

"No!"

As Magmortar fainter, the audience's applause occurred and was amplified by the acoustics of the room. The cheering for Buizel's victory was heavy.

"It would seem that Magmortar is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."

"_I guess I'll need to beat Buizel before anything else." _Lucas thought as he took out a cherish ball. "Go get 'em!"

The flash of light that came from the ball turned in to a Gardevoir, also known as the intermediate pokemon.

"A Gardevoir?" Ash wondered.

"You didn't think a guy who has a lot of fire-types would prepare to fight a person who may have had a water-type without some kind of backup, did you?" Lucas asked.

"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Gardevoir, use magical leaf!" Lucas ordered.

"Gard!" The intermediate pokemon shouted as it unleashed several glowing leaves from its head and aimed them at Buizel, intent on ending the battle quickly.

"Buizel, dodge it!" Ash told it.

"Buiii!" The sea weasel pokemon shouted in pain as it was unable to dodge most of the leaves, causing it great pain from the impact.

"Buizel use ice punch on Gardevoir." Ash yelled. Buizel spun in mid air with a white-blue left hand and punched Gardevoir in the face, making the intermediate pokemon cry out.

"Watch out!" Ash screamed as Gardevoir turned and gasped before leaping high up into the air.

"Gardevoir use energy ball." Lucas squealed.

"Gard!" The intermediate pokemon shouted as it opened its mouth and fired a green ball of energy at Buizel, nailing it in the stomach and knocking it out.

"It would seem that Buizel is unable to battle!" Tucker declared. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon!"

"_I guess now's as good as ever!" _Ash thought. "Go for it!"

The flash of light that came from Ash's pokeball turned into Infernape, the fully evolved fire-type starter pokemon of Sinnoh.

"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Infernape, use flamethrower!" Ash told it.

"Gardevoir, teleport!" Lucas ordered.

"Infer!" The flame pokemon shouted as it inhaled its breath and unleashed a wave of fire around the battlefield, scorching everything it touched. As the flames approached Gardevoir, the intermediate pokemon managed to teleport itself to safety in a place that Infernape couldn't see it.

"Now Gardevoir, use psychic!" Lucas commanded as Gardevoir appeared behind Infernape.

"Gard!" The intermediate pokemon shouted as its eyes started to glow and it raised its arm. Infernape suddenly became covered in a strange green aura and levitated into the air. Gardevoir's hand started moving up and down and this caused Infernape to be smashed into the ground several times.

"Infernape!" Ash worriedly shouted.

"Get rid of it!" Lucas ordered.

Gardevoir's eyes stopped glowing and simply threw its hand up, sending Infernape flying high up and about to come crashing down.

"Infernape, spin around and use flame wheel!" Ash told it.

"Infer!" The flame pokemon shouted as it started spinning its body around with insane speed and activated its flame wheel attack, spinning with mind-blowing speed towards Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir, teleport!" Lucas commanded.

"Gard!" The intermediate pokemon said as it teleported out of harms way just as Infernape was about to nail it with its flame wheel. Infernape finally landed where Gardevoir had been and spun around while landing, dissipating the flames.

"Infernape, keep an eye out to see where Gardevoir shows up!" Ash ordered.

Suddenly, Gardevoir showed up on Infernape's far left.

"Now, Infernape!" Ash shouted. "Use mach punch on Gardevoir, fast!"

"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as its fist began to glow bright blue and nailed Gardevoir in the face, sending it flying backwards.

"Gardevoir, get up!" Lucas pleaded.

"Gar…devoir!" The intermediate pokemon struggled to say as it got back up.

"Infernape, use flame wheel!" Ash ordered.

"Energy ball!" Lucas shouted.

"Infer!" "Gard!" The pokemon shouted as their fired their attacks at the other. Infernape's flamethrower and Gardevoir's energy ball began to expand, trying to push the other back to the opponent. Both pokemon showed no sign of giving up until Gardevoir started showing weakness in its knees, causing it to kneel down and the energy ball to weaken.

"Infernape, full power!" Ash shouted.

"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as it pushed its flamethrower to its limits, pushing the energy ball back towards Gardevoir and causing an explosion which covered the field in dust.

"Infernape, come back to this end!" Ash shouted to his pokemon which was rendered invisible by the dust.

Several moments later, the dust cleared up. Infernape was on Ash's side of the field while Gardevoir was covered in many scratches and hunched over on Lucas's end, severely injured.

"Infernape, we need to end this!" Ash told it. "Use flame thrower!"

"You're not going to win this one. Gardevoir, let's go for it." Lucas said. "Now, use double team." Red cried.

Infernape stared as Gardevoir sent out its copies. It looked around at them and then aimed its flamethrower at one of them and mowed it down, revealing it to have been a copy.

"Infernape, hit all of them until you get the real one!" Ash ordered.

"Infer." The flame pokemon shouted as it continued breathing its flamethrower and mowing down the Gardevoir. Eventually, the copies disappeared and the real Gardevoir took the flamethrower at full force.

"Gardevoir, are you alright?" Lucas shouted.

"Infernape, get it with flame wheel!" Ash ordered.

"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as it jumped in the air and spun its body towards Gardevoir, covering its body in flames and approaching at a fast speed, the injured intermediate pokemon had no chance to dodge the attack.

"Gardevoir you have to teleport!" Lucas told it.

But the intermediate pokemon was unable to so much as move by the time Infernape's flame wheel came down on it, sending it into the ground and knocking it out of the battle. Lucas took out his cherish ball and recalled the injured Gardevoir.

"It would seem that Gardevoir is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."

"Thank you for working so hard, Gardevoir." Lucas said to it as he took out a pokeball. "You're my last chance!"

The light from the pokeball formed itself into a pokemon, one which surprised Ash, Infernape and the audience.

"Infernape!" The flame pokemon brought out by Lucas shouted with great pride.

"An Infernape?" Ash asked.

"Infernape was my very first pokemon, Ash." Lucas explained. "We've been through a lot together."

"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Infernape, use flare blitz!" Lucas ordered.

With amazing speed, Lucas's Infernape managed to cover its entire body in flames and smash itself into Ash's Infernape, sending the latter reeling backwards, its body skipping on the ground like a rock on water, far into Ash's side of the field.

"Infernape, are you alright?" Ash worriedly asked.

"In…fern!" The flame pokemon said as it got up from the powerful attack. On the other side of the field, Lucas's Infernape was panting as well, considering that flare blitz is a variation of double edge and therefore causes damage to the user as well.

"Infernape, use calm mind!" Lucas told his flame pokemon.

"Infernape, you have to attack!" Ash told it. "Use flamethrower!"

"Infer!" The flame pokemon shouted as it breather a stream of fire towards its identical opponent who was currently powering up. The flames struck the opposing Infernape, but soon dissipated, revealing that they only caused some minor damage to it.

"Infernape, use mach punch!" Ash ordered.

"You too!" Lucas told his Infernape.

"Infer!" "Infer!" The two flame pokemon said as they charged down the other, fists glowing blue, legs running fast. Both pokemon struck the other in the face at the same time, sending them both hurdling back to where they had started.

"Now, Infernape!" Lucas shouted as it returned. "Use dig!"

"_I'm not sure where it's gonna come up next!"_ Ash thought. _"This could be a serious problem!"_

"Infernape!" Ash's flame pokemon shouted in pain as Lucas's Infernape came out of the ground from beneath it, hitting it hard and sending it flying upwards.

"Infernape!" Ash worriedly shouted.

"Finish it off with mach punch!" Lucas ordered.

"Innnnnnferrrrr!" Lucas's flame pokemon shouted as it jumped high up in the air above Ash's Infernape, as its fist started glowing blue it punched its opponent in the face, sending it crashing back down into the ground.

"No!" Ash shouted as he saw his pokemon get knocked out by Lucas's flame pokemon. He took out his pokeball and recalled his pokemon!

"It would seem that Infernape is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon."

"It's time to put our training to the test!" Ash said as he threw his pokeball. "Let's win it all!"

The flash from the pokeball turned into Ash's Totodile, a pokemon he caught in Johto and took from Professor Oak's lab yesterday to train.

* * *

Up in the stands, the group continued their discussions about the battle.

"I never knew Ash had a Totodile!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Dawn, you saw it in Sinnoh while he trained for the Sinnoh League." Brock pointed out.

"He he, oh yeah." Dawn realized. "I forgot!"

* * *

"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Totodile, use leer!" Ash ordered.

"To-to-to-to-to-to dile!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as is began to stare at Infernape. Its eyes began to glow a bright red color and a similarly colored aura appeared on Infernape, causing it to bend over in pain.

"Its defenses are low, use water gun!" Ash told his Totodile.

"To-todiiile!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as it unleashed a massive burst of water from its mouth at the flame pokemon.

"Infernape, use dig!" Lucas ordered.

"Infer!" The flame pokemon said as it quickly dug a tunnel underneath it and escaped into it, effectively evading the water gun. At this, Totodile began dancing and moving around the field in an uncontrollable manner.

"Totodile! What're you do-" Ash shouted before he had a sudden thought. _"Wait, I can use this movement against Infernape!"_

Suddenly, Totodile turned around at the sound of a rush. It noticed Infernape coming out of the ground in the exact spot Totodile had been standing in while shooting the water gun. Without even waiting for Ash's order, Totodile jumped up in the air and used skull bash on Infernape, sending it reeling back to the ground as Totodile landed safely on its feet.

"Totodile, I didn't tell you to do that!" Ash told his pokemon.

"To-to-to-to-to-to dile!" The big jaw pokemon said as it continued to dance around, with its legs kicking high up in the air, while Ash called out to it.

"_I guess since it worked, it's okay." _Ash thought.

"Infernape, use mach punch!" Lucas ordered.

"Totodile, dodge it!" Ash told it.

"Toto!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as it was unable to dodge Infernape's mach punch and was knocked about by it.

"Finish it off with flamethrower!"

"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as it unleashed a burst of fire from its mouth at its opponent.

"Totodile, use water gun!" Lucas ordered.

"To-to-to-to-to-todiiile!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as it started blowing a stream of water from its mouth at Infernape. It met the flamethrower halfway and the two attacks began pushing the other one around. Taking both Infernape's superior power and Totodile's type advantage into account, both attacks were evenly matched and blocked each other for quite a few moments.

"Totodile, keep going!" Ash cheered.

"Infernape, never give up!" Lucas called out.

"Toto!" "Infer!" The two pokemon shouted as they continued to fight off the other attack with their own.

Several minutes later, the continuous attack had taken its toll on the already-injured Infernape, which ceased its attack and ended up allowing Totodile's water gun attack to hit it with full force, knocking it into the ground.

"Infernape, are you alright?" Lucas worriedly asked.

"Inf….fer." The injured flame pokemon said as it struggled to stand up and continue the fight.

"Totodile, skull bash!" Ash ordered.

"Infernape, dodge it!" Lucas pleaded.

"To-to-to-todiiiiile!" The big jaw pokemon repeated as it put its head down and began running towards Infernape. Reaching it, Infernape mustered the last of its strength and dodged it, but continued its heavy panting.

"Use mach punch!" Lucas commanded. "You're close enough!"

"Inferrrr!" The flame pokemon shouted as its glowing arm punched Totodile square in its big jaw, sending it flying back about 9 feet.

"Totodile!" Ash screamed as his pokemon continued to lie on the ground.

"To-to…" The big jaw pokemon muttered as it began to get up.

"Use mach punch again!" Lucas ordered.

"Inferrrr!" The flame pokemon shouted as it punched the rising Totodile in the face once again, sending it back another 9 feet.

"_Yup. Just a little more and it's all gonna be mine!"_ Lucas thought.

"We need to finish this!" Ash told it. "Use water gun!"

"To-to-to-to-to-todiiile!" The big jaw pokemon said as it jumped up in the air and released its water gun, landing on its feet after.

"Flamethrower!" Lucas shouted.

"Infernape!" The flame pokemon shouted as its attack collided once again. Infernape began to get up and walk towards the big jaw pokemon. Totodile realized its plan and did the same as their trainers continued to encourage their pokemon to do their best.

"Totodile, jump!" Ash commanded.

As the big jaw pokemon jumped, its water gun attack managed to spray all parts of Infernape's body above its mouth. Totodile's small body allowed it to evade the full force of the flamethrower while in the air and the force of the water gun knocked the flame pokemon out cold so, ultimately, Infernape succumbed to its injuries and fainted, losing the battle.

"It would seem that Infernape is unable to battle! The red trainer is out of pokemon." Tucker announced. "Victory to Ash Ketchum, the green trainer. Ash will be the one who will go through to the semi finals!"

"Good job…..Infernape." Lucas struggled to say as he recalled his pokemon.

"Lucas, that was…." Ash began to say as he approached Lucas to congratulate him. But Lucas only kept his head down, not even looking at Ash and running away.

"_What was that?"_ Ash thought to him self as Lucas left. He turned to Tucker, who simply shrugged.

* * *

Ash returned to the stands to greet his friends. Brendan had already left the stands to go for his match, which was coming up next. Dawn's face showed her concern for Lucas, who hadn't been seen since the match ended.

"Hey, guys!" Ash called out to them.

"Ash!" Leaf shrieked.

"Great battle, Ash." Brock told him.

"What happened to Lucas?" Dawn asked.

"I dunno." Ash said. "He just disappeared."

"_Dork." _Gary thought about the boy who'd lost and disappeared.

* * *

Back on the battlefield, Tucker started up the next match.

"Will the green trainer please enter the arena?" Tucker called out. A boy unknown to the gang approached the field.

"Will the red trainer please enter the arena?" Tucker called out. At that, Brendan Birch entered the arena and stared down his opponent.

"Hi there!" Brendan's opponent said.

"Hey there…dude." Brendan replied.

"The name's Josh!" The boy told him.

"Now, Brendan and Josh, are you both ready for battle?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah!"

"No doubt!"

"Now both trainers are to release their pokemon now!" Tucker announced.

"Come on out!" Brendan shouted as he threw his a pokeball into the air.

"It's time to battle!" Josh shouted as he released his pokemon at the same time.

On Brendan's side came his Tropius. Tropius hadn't made an appearance in the tournament thus far and this was its first battle.

On the other side, Josh released a Skarmory.

"This is a three-on-three round. There will be no substitutions." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Tropius, use sunny day!" Brendan commanded.

"Skar-" Josh started before stopping. "Sunny day?"

* * *

"Brendan's got him totally confused!" May shrieked.

"You have to admit, using sunny day now of all times and here of all places isn't exactly common." Brock said.

* * *

"Troooo!" The fruit pokemon shouted as the leaves on its back opened up. The sunlight coming into the arena got brighter all of a sudden despite not having a sky roof.

"Skarmory, air slash!" Josh ordered.

"Skar!" The armor bird pokemon shrieked as a ball of wind gathered in from it its left wing. Flying a few feet closer to Tropius, it threw the ball at the fruit pokemon, hitting it on the back.

"Tropius, get up and get closer!" Brendan ordered.

"Trop!" The fruit pokemon said as it got back on its feet. Flapping its 'wings', it flew up in the air and approached Skarmory.

"Skarmory, use fury attack!" Josh ordered.

"Take the attack!" Brendan told his pokemon.

"Skar, skar, skar…." The armor bird pokemon said as it repeatedly used it very sharp beak to poke Tropius many times as the fruit pokemon simply hovered in the air, taking the damage. The attacks continued until Skarmory appeared to have hurt itself.

"Solarbeam!" Brendan shouted.

"Tropius!" The fruit pokemon shouted as it quickly gathered the necessary energy in its mouth and fired it at Skarmory. The armor bird pokemon was sent crashing down into the ground, hard and fast while Tropius hovered high above it.

* * *

Up in the audience stands, Ash and the others were discussing the progression of the battles.

"Impressive strategy." Brock said. "The sunny day, letting Skarmory get in close and the solarbeam."

"Grass moves aren't very effective on Skarmory." Ash stated. "This isn't over yet."

* * *

"It's still on the ground!" Brendan shouted. "Use body slam!"

"Trop!" The fruit pokemon shouted as it stopped flying all of a suddenly and began its decent down onto the injured Skarmory. Its legs spread apart, allowing it to cover more ground on impact.

"Skarmory, get up!" Josh pleaded.

Unfortunately for the armor bird pokemon, it was unable to get up and so Tropius used its 220lbs body to slam it down into the ground even further. The fruit pokemon got up soon after and allowed Skarmory to get out of the crater it had been impacted it.

"Skarmory, we need to win this!" Josh shouted.

"Skar!" The armor bird pokemon whimpered as it struggled to get into the air.

"End this with one more solarbeam!" Brendan commanded.

"Tropius!" The fruit pokemon shouted as it fired another solarbeam at the already-struggling-to-move Skarmory, sending it crashing far away and knocking it unconscious.

"_This is ridiculous!"_ Josh angrily thought. _"Just three attacks?"_

"It would seem that Skarmory is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon."

"_I'll need your help, a lot!"_ Josh thought as he threw out a luxury ball. "Go get 'em!"

"Wea!" The sharp claw pokemon, also know as Weavile, called out.

"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Weavile, use ice beam!" Josh shouted.

"Tropius, dodge it, fast!" Brendan ordered.

"Wea!" The sharp claw pokemon shouted as it quickly created a blue ball in its hands and broke it off into several light-blue. The beams were fired at Tropius and hit it square in the face, knocking it down.

"Weavile, use dark pulse!" Josh ordered.

"Tropius, leaf storm!" Brendan commanded.

"Wea!" "Trop!" The two pokemon shouted. Weavile's dark pulse mashed into Tropius's leaf storm at a position closer to Weavile than Tropius and so several sharp leaves got through and clipped Weavile's shoulders. The remainder of the attack caused a minor explosion in their field and kicked up a great deal of dust.

"It's Weavile!" Brendan warned Tropius as the sharp claw pokemon pierced through the dust cloud and got behind the fruit pokemon in a position where it couldn't be see.

"Get out of there, Tropius!" Brendan shouted.

"Ice beam!" Josh shouted.

Of course, since Tropius couldn't see where Weavile was, it made it impossible to know where to go. The fruit pokemon was frozen over from the behind to the front.

"Tropius!" Brendan shouted at his now-frozen pokemon.

"Weavile, finish it off with hyper beam!" Josh ordered.

"Weaaavillle!" The sharp claw pokemon shouted as it fired and large orange beam at the fruit pokemon encased in the block of ice. Hyper beam was amongst the strongest attacks a pokemon could learn, the amount of damage it could do was unbelievable.

"No!" Brendan shouted as the block of ice encasing his pokemon was shattered by the hyper beam. The strength of the beam had even passed on from the impact of the ice and smashed on to hit the fruit pokemon hard, similar to Ash's battle in the top 16. Clearly, Brendan's pokemon had a lot of attack power but were comparatively weaker in defense, leading to this outcome.

"Tropius!" Brendan shouted in agony.

"Hey, Weavile." Josh snickered. "It seems Tropius isn't finished yet."

"Weavile." The sharp claw pokemon laughed as it saw Tropius stand up on its feet again.

"End it with ice beam!" Josh shouted.

"Weaaville!" His pokemon shouted as it fired one more ice beam at the injured fruit pokemon knocking it down and out.

"It would seem that Tropius is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."

"_I'm gonna make you pay for that!" _Brendan thought to his opponent as he recalled the fallen Tropius. "Finish him off!"

Out of Brendan's luxury ball came his Aggron, the iron armor pokemon who'd helped Brendan in the final preliminary round.

* * *

"That was brutal how Weavile took down Tropius!" Ash exclaimed.

"And all this time I thought Brendan was the insane one." Dawn silently added.

"Aggron isn't weak to dark or ice-type moves." Brock stated. "Let's see how this goes."

"_Come on, Brendan."_ May thought. _"Beat him."_

* * *

"Now the red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "It's time to battle!"

"Aggron hyper beam!" Brendan shouted.

"Weavile, you too!" Josh ordered.

"Aaaag!" "Weaaavillle!" The two pokemon shouted as their orange energy beams met one another in the same path and began fighting for dominance over the other one. Eventually, the beams couldn't overpower the other and ceased.

"Aggron, use take down!" Brendan ordered.

"Weavile, get in there first with Quick Attack." Josh commanded. Aggron and Weavile ran towards each other though Weavile was faster and slammed into Aggron first; the iron armor pokemon grabbed Weavile by its crown with its teeth and threw it down the field.

"Weavile, get up!" Josh shouted.

"Weeeavile." The sharp claw pokemon said as it got back to its feet.

"Now, use aerial ace." Josh called out.

"Aggron, use head smash!" Brendan called. Weavile began to spin to perform the attack but Aggron came forwards and knocked down Weavile and sent it reeling back.

"Nice one!" Brendan congratulated his pokemon.

"Forget about that, Weavile; it's your time to shine!" Josh assured it. "Use dark pulse on Aggron."

Weavile leapt over Aggron's head and hit the iron armor pokemon square in the horns with its dark ball of energy.

"Aaag!" The iron armor pokemon shouted in pain.

"Weavile use Ice Beam." Josh said with glee. Weavile put its hand in circular form and fired several pale blue beams. Aggron moaned slightly as it was hit, the attack not having as much hurt as previous attempts.

"Shake it off, Aggron!" Brendan told it. "Use take down!"

"Aaagron!" The iron armor pokemon shouted as it used it tri-horned head to bash down on Weavile once again, scarring it and sending it reeling in pain.

"_This is getting ridiculous!"_ Josh thought.

"_We'll need to end this soon." _Brendan thought. "Aggron, charge in close!"

"Aaagronnn!" The iron armor pokemon shouted as it began running on all fours towards Weavile, intent on finishing off its opponent once and for all.

"Weavile, jump over Aggron!" Josh ordered.

"Fool."Brendan smirked

"Wea!" The sharp claw pokemon shouted as it jumped high into the air above the approaching Aggron, roughly 10 feet high off the ground.

* * *

"This is getting intense!" Leaf exclaimed.

"It can still go either way at this point." Brock said.

"Both of their battle styles are pretty similar." Gary said. "Power, brutality, anger, they're all for overwhelming the opponent."

* * *

"Weavile, use ice beam!" Josh ordered.

"Wrong move!" Brendan shouted. "Aggron, use hyper beam, now!"

"Aaagronn!" "Weeeavillle!" Both pokemon shouted as they fired their attacks at the other. Aggron's orange beam met with Weavile light-blue beam and the two engaged in a violent struggle to overpower the other. Since hyper beam was a naturally more powerful attack than ice beam, the odds were tipped in Aggron's favor but Weavile's type advantage proved to be a struggle. Gathering the very depths of its power, Aggron prepared for a final boost to its attack.

"Aggronnnnn!" The iron armor pokemon shouted as it fired its attack with greater intensity, overpowering Weavile's ice beam and knocking the sharp claw pokemon unconscious.

"Weavile is no longer able to battle!" Tucker announced. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon."

"_I'm gonna beat him!"_ Josh thought. "It's now or never!"

Josh threw out a pokeball containing a Rampardos, the head butt pokemon. It had a blue plate on its large head.

"Ram!" The head butt pokemon shouted as it entered the arena.

"Aggron, let's finish it off, fast!" Brendan yelled. "Use take down!"

"Zen headbutt!" Josh shouted.

"Aag!" "Ram!" The two pokemon shouted as they smashed heads with one another. Take down, as powerful as it was, was unable to outmatch zen headbutt, the signature move of Rampardos. The head butt pokemon managed to throw Aggron aside and continued to smash its own head into the side of the iron armor pokemon.

"Aagronnnn!" The iron armor pokemon shouted in pain as it was being violently bashed by the head butt pokemon.

"Aggron, get out of there!" Brendan pleaded.

"Rampardos, use earthquake!" Josh ordered.

"Ram!" The head butt pokemon said as it used its powerful legs to jump 6 feet in the air. Upon landing it let out another roar, while its landing sent out shockwaves on the ground which hit Aggron, who was still on the ground.

"Aggron, hyper beam!" Brendan shouted.

"Rampardos, you use hyper beam too!" Josh shouted.

"Aagronnn!" "Rammm!" The two pokemon shouted as they fired their orange energy beams at the other. Aggron was on the ground and managed to score a direct hit on Rampardos' left leg while Rampardos' hyper beam caused an explosion of dust as it hit Aggron. Upon the clearance of the dust, it was revealed that Aggron had been knocked out while Rampardos limped.

"Aggron is no longer able to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."

"Thank you, Aggron." Brendan said as he recalled the iron armor pokemon. "There's no never, it now!"

"Rhyperior!" The drill pokemon shouted as it came out of Brendan's pokeball.

* * *

"So, he's using Rhyperior." Brock observed.

"It's one of his strongest, he'll need it." Gary said.

"Why didn't he just use Swampert?" May asked.

"He must have some kind of plan." Leaf suggested.

"This is the top eight, there's a lot at stake." Ash said.

* * *

"Now the red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "It's time to battle!"

"Rhyperior, use rock wrecker!" Brendan commanded.

"Rampardos, you use zen headbutt before it can attack!" Josh shouted.

"_I knew he was a fool." _Brendan thought.

"Rhy!" The drill pokemon shouted as an uncountable number of rocks came out of the holes in its arms and form a massive single massive rock that Rhyperior takes in its arms. Seeing the approaching Rampardos, Rhyperior bent its knees slightly and let the bead butt pokemon get a little closer before chucking its huge rock at it, sending debris everywhere and significantly injuring Rampardos.

"Rampardos!" Josh worriedly yelled. "You need to get up!"

"Ra...am." The head butt pokemon said as it got back on its feet after being hit by the powerful attack. The path of destruction caused by the attack was starting to seriously damage the field.

"Use earthquake!" Josh ordered.

"Rhyperior, use hammer arm on the ground!" Brendan ordered.

"Ram!" The head butt pokemon shouted as it jumped up in the air and landed once again, sending shockwaves at Rhyperior.

"Rhy…perior!" The drill pokemon shouted as it took its glowing fist and smashed it into the ground, sending up rocks into the air which blocked the shockwaves sent by Rampardos.

"Excellent!" Brendan cheered.

"Rampardos, finish it off with fire blast!" Josh shouted.

"Rhyperior use Thunder." Brendan said, quickly grabbing his shoulder. He grabbed it as tightly as he could in order to put all the pain and anticipation he felt in one controllable method.

The two Pokemon let out collective roars and fired their attacks. They met in the middle and the fire blast was completely at ends with the thunder. Still the massive force of the attacks and the force of the thunder colliding with the fire blast caused the resulting energy to merge with the ground to form a huge wave of earth. Brendan and Josh opened their eyes in awe as the ground in the centre of the field broke apart piece by piece and chucked a number of said pieces at Rhyperior. The central force of the attack struck the head butt pokemon much worse, completely knocking it out and destroying much of the field.

"Well now….Rampardos is unable to battle and the green trainer is out of pokemon to use." Tucker announced. "Brendan Birch, the red trainer, will be the one to proceed to the semi-finals."

"_Wow." _Brendan thought.

There were several moments of silence as the audience cheered for the battle. Josh was visibly upset with his loss but shook Brendan's hand nonetheless. He left the arena shortly afterwards while Tucker looked around the stadium and finally spoke up.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment." Tucker asked. "I'll return shortly."

* * *

"Where do you think he's going?" Ash asked.

"I bet he has to consult with the tournament committee." Brock said.

"Brendan smashed up the field pretty bad." Leaf said. "He needs to know what to do."

* * *

Several minutes later, Tucker returned to the referee stand and made his announcement.

"Due to the damage to the field, the tournament committee has decided to move the remaining quarterfinal battles to the 51st floor of the tower." He announced. "Would all viewers please proceed to said floor?"

At that, the entire audience got out of their seats and proceeded to the exit.

"One more thing." Tucker said. "Would the trainers who are to compete next please enter the preparation rooms on the 51st floor that corresponds to their color?"

* * *

For Ash, the journey to the 51st floor was worse than when he had to wade through gangs of couples on his date with Leaf. Countless people crowded the stairs and help up the elevators a long periods of time. Finally managing to get to the 51st floor; Ash, Brendan, Gary, Dawn, May and Brock took their seats as without Leaf, who'd gone to the preparation room since her match was next.

"So, who's Leaf's opponent?" Ash asked.

"You mean you didn't recognize her?" May asked in a shocked voice.

"Recognize who?" Ash asked.

May was puzzled as she turned to Dawn for assistance. "Dawn?"

"Yeah, but still, I wasn't there when they announced the match-ups for this round." Dawn explained.

"So how do you know who this trainer is, May?" Brock asked.

"She's one of the top coordinators around." May explained. "She won the Johto Grand Festival last year."

"So that's why you think Leaf's gonna have trouble?" Gary snickered.

"It'd make sense." May said. "She's probably gonna have to deal with a huge combination of moves."

"What if this girl just battles normally, this isn't a contest it's a real battle." Gary said.

"WHAT?" Dawn asked him.

* * *

Raquaza45: Oh boy, Gary's gonna get it, isn't he? Well that's the end of it this time, but stay tuned for the next chapter, the more reviews I get for this chapter, the faster it's gonna get here. So now that you're done reading, remember to review! Please!

Next time: **Chapter 12: Heading For The Top**

Leaf has to face an opponent, one of the top coordinators around apparently. Can she win? After that, Gary engages May in a battle with the winner getting to the semi finals. Remeber to review if you want the chapter to get here soon! If you review enough, soon you may find out the origin of the 'lemonade' jokes that have been appearing here and there.

Till next time!


	12. Heading For The Top

Rayquaza45: Hey there readers! Sorry for making you wait such a long time but if you want chapters to come fast, review at the end of the previous one. But now you can get back to doing what you love: reading my stories and reviewing them :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of its aspects!

* * *

**Chapter 12: Heading For The Top**

On the 51st floor of the Olivine City Battle Tower, the matches for the round of the final eight were being conducted. The trainers and spectators had to be moved since the arena of the 50th floor, which was supposed to be that match site, was heavily damaged by Brendan Birch's previous battle. Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak and their friends sat in their seats and anticipated the battle concerning their friend, Leaf Green, who, according to May, was to fight a tough opponent.

Dome Ace Tucker, of the Kanto Battle Frontier, was the acting referee for the round of the final eight. Wearing his typical pink and white outfit, he took his place at the referee podium and began the battle.

"Will the green trainer please enter the arena?" Tucker called out.

Heeding the call, Leaf came out of the preparation room and took her spot on the field.

"And now, will the red trainer please enter the arena." Tucker called.

At the call, a blue-haired girl wearing a white hat, a pink blouse with a white jacket over it, light-purple shorts that had a black stripe and white shoes with a pink stripe and blue heels.

* * *

"Who's she?" Ash asked.

"Her name's Marina!" Dawn and May shouted simultaneously.

"_A coordinator named Marina?"_ Brendan thought.

"Have we seen her before?" Gary asked, rubbing his throbbing head.

"She's a top coordinator, Gary." Dawn explained, cracking her knuckles at the same time. "She's also a pokemon idol and models for the top designers anywhere."

"_She's free to design my-" _Brock started thinking before he was cut off.

"But she's best known as a model for things like the Sinnoh region poketch and other carry-ons." May interjected.

"So then she's just…..." Brendan said.

"She's….what?" May asked.

* * *

"Now, Leaf and Marina, are you both ready for battle?" Tucker asked.

"I am!"

"Sure!"

"Now, both trainers are to release their pokemon!" Tucker announced.

"Come on out!" Leaf shouted as she threw her pokeball into the air.

"It time to battle!" Marina shouted as she released her pokemon at the same time.

On Leaf's side came her Dusknoir, the gripper pokemon.

Her opponent, Marina, released a Misdreavus, the screech pokemon.

"This is a three-on-three round and there will be no substitutions." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Dusknoir, use shadow punch!" Leaf commanded.

"_Shadow punch can't be evaded!"_ Marina thought. "Little miss; you'll have to take it!"

"Missdreee!" The screech pokemon shouted in pain as Dusknoir's shadow punch hit it directly.

"Little miss, use payback!" Marina told it.

"Misdreavus!" The screech pokemon said as it rammed itself into Dusknoir's body. Despite being much larger that itself, Misdreavus was able to knock down Dusknoir without much effort.

"Dusknoir, get up and use future sight!" Leaf commanded.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon calmly said as its eyes began to glow and release a strange wave of energy which passed everything by, not affecting anything.

"Little miss, use psybeam!" Marina commanded.

"Dusknoir, counter with shadow punch!" Leaf shouted.

"Miss!" "Dusk!" The two pokemon shouted as they attacked the other. Misdreavus's multi-colored psychic beam of energy was met with resistance from Dusknoir's shadow punch. The energy from the attacks cancelled the other out, creating a rainbow-like effect with colored specs of dust scattering around the field.

"Ok then, little miss, use shadow ball!" Marina exclaimed.

"Dusknoir, use confuse ray." Leaf yelled. Dusknoir used its arms shot a white ball of energy at Misdreavus, causing the screech pokemon to circle its area in confusion and preventing it from attacking.

"Nice job Dusknoir, now use shadow punch again!" Leaf shouted.

"Misdreavus, defend yourself from it!" Marina pleaded, even referring to her pokemon by its name rather than its given nickname. Misdreavus levitated up from the ground and flew into the air flying back down with his head pointed towards the attack. The giant black fist mashed the screech pokemon into the ground, but it soon returned, still going on strong.

"Little miss, use perish song to get it back!" Marina cried.

"Missssssss-" The screech pokemon started singing before it as immediately cut off and fell to the ground in pain.

"_Excellent, future sight took place!"_ Leaf thought. _"If perish song went through, that could've been ugly."_

"Little miss, are you alright?" Marina asked, smiling as the screech pokemon got back on its feet. "Alright then, use shadow ball!"

Misdreavus levitated and arched its body into a circle and fired a black ball at Dusknoir, hitting it directly in the face and knocking it down.

"Dusknoir, get up!" Leaf pleaded.

"Misdreavus use shadow ball one more time!" Marina cried.

"Misdreavus!" The screech pokemon said as it released another black ball from its body and sent it at Dusknoir.

"Dusknoir, use shadow punch on the ball!" Leaf said smiling.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon said as it shot its fist up into the air as it lay on the ground. The shadow of the fist hit the shadow ball and blew it up, creating a large amount of smoke and preventing the two pokemon from seeing where their opponent was.

"Little miss, get away from it!" Marina yelled. Misdreavus managed to pull itself together and used its body to push away enough dust to get through to and area where the dust wasn't there. Dusknoir looked up and smiled as it saw a path exiting the dust, now knowing how Misdreavus came out from the dusty area on the field, Dusknoir followed the path set by Misdreavus and exited the cloud just as it began to clear.

"Nice work, Dusknoir." Leaf smiled. "Use shadow punch!"

"Dusknoir!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it jumped up in the air and attacked its opponent. It punched the air and a larger fist of shadow appeared quickly after and struck down the screech pokemon within the blink of an eye.

"Little miss, are you okay?" Marina asked, which was met with a weak response.

"_This Misdreavus just doesn't give up." _Leaf thought. "Dusknoir, lets finish it!"

"Little miss, lets end it with shadow ball!" Marina shouted.

"Dusknoir, use shadow punch!" Leaf shouted.

"Misdreavus!" "Dusknoir!" The two pokemon shouted as they attacked the other. Misdreavus's shadow ball managed to hit Dusknoir while the gripper pokemon's attack managed to hit Misdreavus head on, knocking the screech pokemon down.

"Little miss, are you alright?" Marina asked.

"Dusknoir, can you go on?" Leaf asked.

"Miss." "Dusk." The two pokemon answered.

"Let's finish it off with psybeam, little miss!" Marina told it.

"Dusknoir, get around it and use shadow punch!" Leaf ordered.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it floated around the multi-colored beam. It punched the air one time, creating a large fist of shadow that struck the screech pokemon as it was attacking, knocking it down and out.

"Misdreavus is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."

"It's time once again!" Marina shouted as she threw another pokeball.

"Jigglypuff." The balloon pokemon said as it came out of the pokeball.

* * *

_"One down, two to go!"_ Ash thought.

* * *

"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Little pink, use sing." Marina commanded.

The balloon pokemon began to sing on its trainers command. Large and colorful musical notes came out of its mouth and floated on over to Dusknoir, hitting the gripper pokemon but causing no damage.

"_I forgot that normal moves won't affect ghost-type pokemon!" _Marina thought. "Little pink, use wake-up slap!"

"Dusknoir, confuse ray!" Leaf ordered.

"Forget that, little pink, dodge it!" Marina cried.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon said as it unleashed a white ball at Jigglypuff, striking it in the back and causing it to wobble.

"Oh no!" Marina cried.

"Use pursuit!" Leaf ordered.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon said as it zipped its body on over to where Jigglypuff was and hit it with its arm, hard.

* * *

Up in the audience, Ash and the group engaged in discussion about the battle.

"This girl sure loves giving her pokemon nicknames." Brendan stated.

"I thought you said she was some top coordinator." Gary said. "She hasn't done anything impressive yet."

"These aren't the pokemon she usually uses in contests." Dawn flatly stated. "Maybe she's up to something by using weaker pokemon?"

"Could be." May agreed.

"_Funny."_ Brendan thought. _"I don't recall Leaf insulting Marina's pokemon."_

* * *

"Little pink, use psychic!" Marina ordered.

"Jiggly…puff!" The balloon pokemon said as it, unaffected by the confusion, covered Dusknoir in a pink aura and levitated it high above the field.

"Smash it down!" Marina shouted.

"Puff!" The pokemon shouted as it obeyed its trainer, motioning its hand to smash the still-levitating Dusknoir down to the ground.

"And….again!" Marina commanded.

"Puff!" The balloon pokemon shouted once again, motioning its hand to put Dusknoir back in the air and smash it into the ground once again.

"Again!" Marina shouted.

"Dusknoir, break out of it!" Leaf ordered.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it spread its arm far apart and stood straight up. It managed to shake of the pink aura covering it and levitated back down to the ground.

"_Jigglypuff is a normal-type, ghost-type moves won't work!"_ Leaf thought. "Dusknoir, use pursuit!"

"Dusknoir!" The gripper pokemon said as its legless body chased after Jigglypuff and smashed into it with extreme force, sending it reeling backwards, its pink body bouncing back to Marina.

"Little pink, are you alright?" The balloon pokemon was asked by its trainer, who was met with a nod. "Use psychic!"

"Use pursuit before it gets a chance!" Leaf ordered.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it sped towards Jigglypuff, knocking down the balloon pokemon before it got a chance to attack.

"While it's on the ground, use future sight!" Leaf ordered.

"Dusk." The gripper pokemon said as its eyes began to glow for several moments while the balloon pokemon struggled to get up.

"Little pink, use psychic again!" Marina shouted.

"Jiggly….puff!" The balloon pokemon shouted as it covered Dusknoir in a pink aura once again and began knocking it into the ground once again.

"_Not again."_ Leaf thought. _"Well, it's just a matter of time before we end this!"_

The balloon pokemon repeatedly motioned its hand to exercise its psychic control over Dusknoir, smashing the gripper pokemon up and down in the air for several moments before it stopped.

"Pufffff!" The balloon pokemon cried in pain.

"Little pink!" Marina cried.

"Future sight's taken effect!" Leaf shouted. "Dusknoir, finish it off with pursuit!"

"Dusssknoir!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it attacked Jigglypuff one final time, knocking it out of the battle.

"Jigglypuff is unable to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, you must now choose your last pokemon."

Marina recalled the unconscious Jigglypuff and stood silently for a few moments. All of a sudden, she opened her eyes with fierce but controlled aggression and took out a pokeball.

"This is our last chance!" She called as she called out her final pokemon.

* * *

Up in the stands, two boys, one in a green shirt with light-brown hair sat with Jimmy, a trainer Leaf had previously beaten in the final preliminary round.

"Awww, yeah, this is it!" The light-brown haired boy shouted. "Win this one, babe!"

"Jackson, calm down!" Jimmy told the hyperactive boy next to him.

"How can you be calm, she's the only one of us three who got this far and she facing the girl who knocked you out!" Vincent shouted. "You better be more serious if you wanna date her!"

"What was that?" Jommy exclaimed.

* * *

"_Come on, Leaf!"_ Ash thought. _"You're so close."_

"She's gonna win it!" Gary said confidently.

"I'm not gonna count Marina out yet." Dawn said.

* * *

"Feraligatr!" The large blue pokemon that came out of Marina pokeball said.

"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Dusknoir, shadow punch!" Leaf ordered.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as it punched the air in front of it, thereby creating a fist of shadow aimed for Feraligatr.

"Alright Wani-Wani, use water gun!" Marina told it.

"Ferallllll!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as it unleashed a stream of water from its mouth in order to block the incoming shadow punch. The two attacks collided, neither pokemon taking any damage but the resulting explosion rendering both unable to see.

"Wani-Wani, get in there!" Marina told her pokemon.

"Feral." The big jaw pokemon said as it entered the cloud of dust and remained invisible to all. Soon after, the dust cleared and Feraligatr appeared in front of Dusknoir.

"Time for hydro cannon!" Marina shouted.

"Feralgiatrrrrrrr!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as it unleashed the ultimate water-type attack on Dusknoir at point black range. The gripper pokemon was sent reeling back towards Leaf and knocked out immediately.

"Dusknoir is no longer able to battle." Tucker declared. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon!"

"Feraligatr is a water-type so I guess grass is my best bet, now." Leaf thought as she tried to decide which pokemon to use.

* * *

"That was awesome!" The light-brown haired trainer in the stands known as Jackson cheered.

"_Marina, I'm rootin' for you!" _Jimmy thought.

* * *

"Go for it!" Leaf shouted as she threw her pokeball.

"Leaf!" The verdant pokemon known as Leafeon said as it came out of the pokeball and took its position on the field

"_Now I have a type advantage."_ Leaf thought. _"Let's see where it gets me."_

"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Leafeon, use razor leaf!" Leaf shouted.

"Leaf!" The verdant pokemon shouted as leaves sprung from its body and it fired them at Feraligatr, clipping the big jaw pokemon in the side as Leafeon stood confidently.

"A water-type against a grass-type, you have no chance Marina." Leaf thought.

"Wani-Wani, water gun." Marina shouted.

"Leafeon, dodge it." Leaf called out.

"Feral!" The big jaw pokemon said as it opened its mouth wide and a stream of water came out and aimed at Leafeon. The verdant pokemon managed to dodge the attack by jumping in the air before the attack hit, resulting in the water hitting the ground.

"Bullet seed, now!" Leaf shouted.

Several orangeish-yellow bullets were fired from Leafeon's mouth and Feraligatr was forced backwards. Soon after Leafeon stopped attacking, Feraligatr stood up straight and started chomping on its mouth.

"It's over." Leaf said. "Okay Leafeon, get on Feraligatr's back!"

"Wait for it." Marina ordered.

Leafeon charged on over towards Feraligatr. The big jaw pokemon simply stood there, waiting for its masters orders.

"Jump on!" Leaf shouted.

"Alright then, use aqua tail!" Marina ordered.

The big jaw pokemon got down low on all fours and began spinning its tail in a circular motion. Water soon began to come out and engulfed Leafeon as it jumped into the water stream. The water began spinning faster and faster and Leafeon was thrown out of the cycle, tossed far away from Feraligatr.

"Leafeon, no!" Leaf squealed.

"Wani-Wani, follow up with hydro cannon!" Marina shouted.

"Feraligatrrrrr!" The big jaw pokemon shouted as it unleashed the powerful burst stream of water from its mouth, the same attack that had knocked out Dusknoir.

"Leafeon, face the attack and use hyper beam!" Leaf shouted.

The verdant pokemon struggled to turn its head in the direction of the incoming attack. Managing to do so, it opened its mouth wide. "Leafeonnnn!" It shouted as the orange beam shot out of its mouth and collided with Feraligatr's hydro cannon. Both attacks were of equal power and held the other of for several moments before both pokemon were got tired and ceased fire.

"Wani-Wani, get in there and use body slam!" Marina ordered.

"Feral!" The big jaw pokemon said as it charged on over towards Leafeon and jumped up in the air and spread its arms apart, getting ready to flatten Leafeon.

"Leafeon, jump out of the way!" Leaf cried.

"Leaf." The verdant pokemon said as it jumped out of the way of Feraligatr's body slam, evading it and leaving the big jaw pokemon vulnerable in a crater on the ground.

_"Yes!"_ Leaf thought. "Now use razor leaf!"

"Escape!" Marina shouted.

"Leaf!" The verdant pokemon with brown eyes shouted as leaves sprung from its body and were fired at Feraligatr, who was still lying on the ground.

"Wani-Wani, get straight into it with water gun!" Marina cried.

"Leafeon, bullet seed." Leaf shouted.

Both pokemon let out their cries simultaneously as Leafeon's orangeish-yellow seeds bombarded with Feraligatr's water gun.

"Keep it up!" Marina cried.

"Don't give up!" Leaf cried.

"Leaffffff." Leafeon's big eyes started getting more and more concentrated as the verdant pokemon began walking towards Feraligatr.

"Feraligatr, back off and get back!" Marina squealed. Feraligatr ceased its attack and ducked down, evading the bullet seed and running back to Marina.

"Well, see how you like this!" Leaf exclaimed. "Leafeon, use razor leaf!"

"Wani-Wani, use water gun again!" Marina told it.

"_Won't work a second time."_ Leaf thought.

"Leaf!" "Feral!" The two pokemon shouted as their attacks met each other. The razor leaf held back the water gun far away from Leafeon as Leaf came up with a plan.

"Leafeon, cease razor leaf and fire hyper beam!" Leaf told it.

The verdant pokemon obeyed its trainer's orders and stopped using its razor leaf. This allowed Feraligatr's water gun to get closer until Leafeon was ready. "Leafeonnnn!" It shouted as it unleashed its hyper beam attack and blasted through the water gun, striking the big jaw pokemon right in its jaw and knocking it down.

"Wani-Wani!" Marina cried out.

* * *

"This girl sure loves giving her pokemon weird nicknames." Brendan said.

"That name doesn't even sound like Totodile or Feraligatr." Gary added.

"Maybe it's foreign." Brock suggested.

* * *

"Alright Leafeon, let's finish this!" Leaf shouted. "Use razor leaf!"

"Leaffff!" The verdant pokemon shouted as the leaves sprung from its body. Leafeon used its head to direct them towards Feraligatr, still lying on the ground.

"Gatrrrrr!" The big jaw pokemon shouted in pain.

"Wani-Wani, you have to get up!" Marina pleaded.

"Finish it off with bullet seed!" Leaf ordered.

"Leaffff!" The verdant pokemon shouted as it fired its orangeish-yellow seeds at the big jaw pokemon on the ground that still couldn't get up. The bullets impacted Feraligatr for several seconds before stopping. The big jaw pokemon was knocked unconscious.

"No!" Marina shouted.

"Feraligatr is no longer able to battle and the red trainer is out of pokemon." Tucker announced. "The green trainer, Leaf Green, is the winner and will proceed to the semi-finals."

"Awesome job, Leafeon!" Leaf enthusiastically cheered as she embraced the verdant pokemon in her hands, congratulating it.

* * *

Up in the stands, Leaf met up with Ash, Brendan, Dawn and Brock.

"Hey guys!" She greeted.

"Leaf, that was an awesome battle!" Ash shouted.

"Thank-"

"You were amazing; you beat one of the world's top coordinators." Dawn said in a fangirl-like tone.

"I did what?" Leaf asked.

"Seriously, congratulations." Brendan told her.

"Where are May and Gary?" Leaf asked.

"They're battling each other next." Brock said. "They're getting ready now."

* * *

Several minutes later, on the field, Tucker took his post and began the callout for the next match.

"Will the green trainer please enter the arena?" Tucker called out.

Heeding the call, May approached the field. Her opponent was nowhere in sight.

"Now, will the red trainer please enter the arena?" Tucker called.

Hearing the call, May's opponent, Gary Oak, entered the arena. Standing as confident as ever, Gary took his spot.

"Now, May and Gary, are both of you ready for battle?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah!"

"Definitely."

"Both trainers are to release their pokemon, now!" Tucker announced.

"Take the field!" May shouted as she tossed her pokeball.

"It's time to battle!" Gary shouted as he threw his.

On May's side came her Glaceon, the ice-type evolution of Eevee. May had evolved Glaceon back when she went to Sinnoh, prior to the event known as the 'Wallace Cup'.

On Gary's side came a surprise as well. His pokemon of choice was Umbreon, the dark-type evolution of Eevee. Both trainers and their pokemon faced down the other, eager to battle. This was now a battle between two evolutions of Eevee.

"This will be a three-on-three battle and there will be no substitutions!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Umbreon, shadow ball!" Gary ordered.

"Glaceon, you use shadow ball too!" May told it.

Both pokemon let out their cries as they formed black spheres in their mouths, which were pulsating with energy. Umbreon was the first to fire its attack with Glaceon fired quickly afterwards. Both attacks proved to be of roughly equal energy right off the bat, but Umbreon managed to use its power to its advantage and overpower Glaceon's shadow ball, damaging it quickly and sending it flying back.

"Glaceon!" May worriedly shouted.

"Umbreon, use psychic!" Gary ordered.

"Umb!" The moonlight pokemon shouted as it covered Glaceon in a pink aura and levitated it far off the ground.

"No!" May shouted.

"Knock it out!" Gary ordered.

"Umbreee!" Gary's pokemon shouted as it motioned its head downwards, bringing the fresh snow pokemon falling down into the field, crashing.

"Use shadow ball!" Gary told it.

"Glaceon, you have to dodge it!" May pleaded.

"G…glace!" The fresh snow pokemon said as it managed to jump over the incoming shadow ball and land on its feet.

"_I guess contests can teach you a thing or two after all."_ Gary thought. "Umbreon, get in there and use skull bash!"

"Glaceon, use ice shard before it gets too close!" May ordered.

"Glace, glace, glace!" May's pokemon shouted as it fired several ice shards at the approaching moonlight pokemon. One by one, the ice shards broke against the ground as they tried to attack Umbreon, who kept dodging the attacks and getting closer.

"Ice shard isn't working so use secret power!" May told her pokemon.

"Glaceeeeonnnn!" The fresh snow pokemon shouted as it covered its body in a pink shine and prepared to smash into Umbreon.

"Umbreon, counter with hidden power!" Gary ordered.

"Umbreeeee!" The moonlight pokemon shouted as its eyes started glowing and it began radiating black energy waves which scliced through the secret power attack covering Glaceon and sending the fresh snow pokemon reeling back.

* * *

"Gary's really overwhelming her." Ash pointed out.

"Hey Brendan, I think you have some competition in the overpowering department." Leaf laughed.

Brendan simply stayed silent. _"Come on, May!"_ He thought.

* * *

"Umbreon, use skull bash!" Gary ordered.

"Umbreeeee!" The moonlight pokemon shouted as its head took on a silver shine and rammed into Glaceon, but the fresh snow pokemon seemed to have anticipated the attack.

"Glaceon, use ice beam!" May shouted.

"Glaceeeee!" May's pokemon shouted as it opened its mouth and a light blue ball formed in front of it. It then fired light blue beams from the ball at the incoming moonlight pokemon, freezing it in a block of ice.

"Umbreon!" Gary shouted as his frozen pokemon. Umbreon's head was down on the ground since it had been charging in for a skull bash when it was frozen. There was no movement in the ice block as Gary stayed still, wondering what May would do.

"Use shadow ball!" May ordered.

"Glaceeeon!" The fresh snow pokemon shouted as it unleashed a black ball of energy at the frozen Umbreon. The attack smashed through the block of ice encasing the moonlight pokemon and broke it free, but not before dealing some damage and sending it reeling.

"Umbreon, get back in this battle with hidden power!" Gary ordered.

"Umbreeeee!" The moonlight pokemon shouted as its eyes began to glow white and create black waves of energy. These waves began to radiate and head for Glaceon.

"Glaceon, use ice shard!" May told it.

Opening its mouth wide, the fresh snow pokemon fired several sharp shards of ice from it at the approaching black energy waves. One by one, the ice shards met with the hidden power waves and they cancelled out the other upon contact.

"_She's not bad." _Gary thought.

"I've gotta win this!" May muttered to herself.

"Umbreon, use psychic!" Gary ordered.

"Glaceon, ice shard, fast!" May shouted.

"Umb!" The moonlight pokemon shouted as its eyes began to glow. It motioned its head and covered May's Glaceon in a pink aura and levitated it far off the ground.

"Glace glace glace!" The fresh snow pokemon repeated as it fired several ice shards at the ground where Umbreon was standing. But using its quick legs, Umbreon managed to keep its psychic hold over Glaceon while dodging the ice shards.

Motioning its head, the moonlight pokemon used its power to make the fresh snow pokemon impact the ground with intense force. The attack cause dust to fill the small crater of impact as Glaceon was lifted into the air once again by the lingering psychic control.

"Throw it up in the air!" Gary shouted.

"Umb!" The moonlight pokemon shouted as it jerked its head upwards, causing Glaceon to be thrown higher than before.

"Glaceon, face Umbreon and use ice beam!" May ordered.

"Glaceeeee!" The fresh snow pokemon shouted as it formed a blue ball in front of its mouth as it was going upwards. Several blue beams broke off the ball and were fired at Umbreon as Glaceon fell downwards to the ground.

"Umbreon, dodge and use shadow ball!" Gary told it.

"Umb umb umb!" The moonlight pokemon repeated as it ran around to dodge the incoming ice beam. It finally managed to do so and got itself into an attacking position.

"Glaceon, you have to get yourself out of the way!" May worriedly shouted to the falling fresh snow pokemon.

"Fire!" Gary shouted.

Hearing its trainers command, Umbreon fired its shadow ball at Glaceon, who was just a few feet off the ground at this point. The powerful impact of the attack dug deep into Glaceon and sent it flying back to May's side of the field and was rendered unconscious upon impact.

"Glaceon!" May shouted.

"Glaceon has been knocked out!" Tucker announced. "Green trainer you must choose your next pokemon!"

"Thank you, Glaceon." May said as she recalled her pokemon and took out another pokeball. "Alright then, let's get 'em!"

May's Blaziken came out onto the field in a fiery rage, the flames on its wrists burning brightly as it looked to the ceiling. Fixating its small eyes on Gary's Umbreon, it assumed its battle position.

* * *

"A Blaziken." Leaf said.

"It was May's first pokemon." Ash said.

"Let's see Gary handle this." Brendan sneered.

* * *

"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Blaziken, use sky uppercut!" May told it.

"Umbreon, quickly, use psychic!" Gary shouted.

"Blaze!" The blaze pokemon shouted as the flame around its right fist lit up as it was pulled back. Blaziken continued to run forwards, planning to smash Umbreon into the air. "Umb…reee!" The blaze pokemon was covered in a pink aura and lifted into the air as the moonlight pokemon initiated its psychic attack barely before it was about to be hit. Lifting Blaziken several dozen feet upwards, Umbreon dropped its control, thus causing Blaziken to fall back to the ground on its back.

"Blaziken!" May worriedly shouted as her pokemon got back on its feet. "Are you alright?"

"Umbreon, use hidden power!" Gary ordered.

"Umbreeeee!" The moonlight pokemon shouted as its eyes began to glow white. Black waves of energy began to radiate from its body and were sent towards Blaziken.

"Alright Blaziken, use quick attack to dodge and then attack!" May cheerfully told it.

"Blaaaaaze!" The blaze pokemon said as it received its orders. Reaching amazing speeds, Blaziken managed to evade the incoming waves of energy and used a well-placed punch to the face to send Umbreon reeling.

"Now use blaze kick!" May shouted.

"Blaaaze!" Blaziken shouted as its right leg was enveloped in bright orange flames. The moonlight pokemon took an immediate kick in the face from the attack as it was sent into the air and then crashing down, visibly injured as it tried to get up.

"_That Blaziken's pretty fast."_ Gary thought to himself. _"I've gotta do something."_

"Blaziken, use peck!" May ordered.

"Umbreon, get ready to use shadow ball!" Gary shouted.

The blaze pokemon bent its head over to peck the opponent with its beak. As it leaned over, Umbreon turned around, having been forming its shadow ball out of sight and awaited orders.

"Now!"

"Breeeee!" The moonlight pokemon shouted as it first its black energy ball at Blaziken. Blaziken, however, wasted no time evading the move, jumping several feet above Umbreon. May's pokemon was now directly over Gary's.

"It's time to use overheat!" May shouted.

"Blaaazikennnn!" The blaze pokemon shouted as its body turned a faint red and it released a white fire with a red-orange flame spiraling around it at the opponent. Now that it was directly above Umbreon, it was able to aim its attack at the unsuspecting pokemon with incredible accuracy and amazing power. The moonlight pokemon was completely enveloped in the flames coming down on it for several moments. With now way to escape, lest it be burned, Umbreon was forced to withstand the brunt of the attack. Eventually, the flames cleared, revealing Umbreon lying unconscious on the ground as Blaziken stood up.

"Umbreon is no longer able to battle!" Tucker announced. "Red trainer, choose you next pokemon!"

"Alright then, buddy!" Gary said as he took out a pokeball, subsequent to returning Umbreon. "It's your turn!"

"Blastoise!" The huge blue shellfish pokemon shouted upon entering the field.

* * *

"Wow, Gary's Blastoise!" Dawn cheered.

"With its type advantage, it's gonna give May's Blaziken a tough time." Brock observed. "If nothing else."

"Now it gets interesting." Ash said.

"Let's see how it goes." Leaf added.

* * *

"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Blastoise, skull bash!" Gary ordered.

"Blaziken dodge it!" May shouted.

The blaze pokemon assumed the position best suited to allow it to dodge in the incoming Blastoise. The shellfish pokemon became surrounded in a silver aura as it was about to ram its head into Blaziken. At the last best second, Blaziken managed to get up high into the air and evade the skull bash.

"Blaziken, ember!" May ordered.

From up high, Blaziken shot several small bolts of fire at Gary's Blastoise. The embers rained down on the unsuspecting shellfish pokemon who was still wondering where its opponent was. They hit Blastoise's skin and shell but fail to inflict any visible damage.

"Blastoise, hydro cannon!" Gary ordered, pointing out the opponent who was currently hovering above the field in the air.

"Blaaassssstoise!" The shellfish pokemon shouted as it turned to see its opponent in the air. It quickly fired two massive orbs of water from the cannons on its back.

"Blaziken, try to break through it with blaze kick!" May shouted, knowing that dodging in the air may as well be impossible so she may as well try to destroy the attack itself.

But up in the air, Blaziken was unable to break down the ultimate water-type attack and took the hydro cannon attacks to its chest, sending it falling back to the ground with heavy injures.

"Blaziken!" May worriedly cried.

"Blastoise, use rapid spin!" Gary ordered.

"Blass!" The shellfish pokemon shouted as it withdrew its head, arms, cannons and legs into its shell. It then started spinning around its shell like a disc and aimed itself for Blaziken, still recovering from the hydro cannon attack.

"Blaziken, dodge it!" May shouted. Hearing her command, the blaze pokemon managed to get on its feet and jump above the incoming Blastoise shell.

"_It's a decent jumper, that Blaziken."_ Gary thought. _"Let's end that."_

"Blaziken, wait for it to stop and then we attack!" May told her pokemon.

"Blastoise come around." Gary shouted. Obeying its orders, Blastoise spun back to Gary's side of the field and exited its shell.

"Blaziken, use blaze kick!" May shouted.

"Blastoise, use skull bash!" Gary shouted.

"Blass!" "Blaze!" The two pokemon shouted as they prepared to attack the other. Blastoise lowered its head and took on a silver shine as it ran towards the opposing blaze pokemon. Blaziken's left leg began to erupt with fire around the ankle as it jumped up, readying itself to strike the shellfish pokemon. Blastoise's head and Blaziken's flame covered leg hit one another at the same time which sent Blastoise reeling backwards, falling backwards on its shell. Blaziken reeled backwards but landed on its feet.

"Blastoise is on its shell, Blaziken hit it with over-" May stopped short of finishing her sentence. Remembering that overheat is less effective the more times it is use. "Hit it with sky uppercut!"

"Blaaaze!" The blaze pokemon shouted as it ran towards its opponent, firing up its leg once more. Blaziken jumped in the air, expecting the incapacitated Blastoise to be an easy target, before it heard Gary's command.

"Blastoise, hydro pump!" Gary shouted. "Spin it around in your shell!"

"Blastoise!" The shellfish pokemon shouted as it withdrew its head, arms, cannons and legs into its shell once more. As with its rapid spin attack, the shell began spinning around like a disc but this time, water spouted out of the holes in the shell. With Blaziken so close from being about to use sky uppercut, it was quickly hit by the spiraling shell and splashed mercilessly by the water spouting from it.

"Bla…aze." The blaze pokemon said as it was down on one knee, heavily injured from the attack as Blastoise stopped spinning and went back to Gary's side of the field.

"Blastoise, let's finish this with hydro cannon!" Gary shouted.

"Blaaassssstoise!" The shellfish pokemon boomed as aimed its cannons at Blaziken, who was still down on one knee, and fired its water orbs at it. The two balls of crystal clear water from Blastoise's cannon hit Blaziken square in the face and abdomen, sending it flying through the air and crashing into the wall behind May.

"Blaziken!" May shouted at the top of her voice. She ran to her pokemon, knowing that it was unconscious and recalled it.

"Blaziken is no longer able to battle." Tucker announced. "Green trainer, choose your final pokemon."

"It's all up to you now!" May said as she threw her final pokeball.

"Venusaur!" The seed pokemon boomed as it came out of its pokeball.

* * *

"_Since when did May have a Venusaur?"_ Leaf thought to herself.

"Now it's May who has the advantage over Gary." Ash stated.

"But Gary's still got one more pokemon after Blastoise." Dawn said.

"This 'no substitutions' rule is a serious pain." Brendan complained.

* * *

"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin."

"Venusaur, razor leaf!" May shouted.

"Blastoise, withdraw." Gary ordered.

"Venusaur!" "Blass!" The two pokemon said as they followed through. Blastoise withdrew its head, arms, cannons and legs into its shell as Venusaur launched multiple razor-sharp leaves from the leaves on its back. Against the hardness of the shell, the leaves were ineffective at penetration and simply fell to the ground after hitting it.

"Use vine whip to pick up the shell!" May shouted.

"Saur!" The seed pokemon said as it extended its vines and quickly picked up the shell of Blastoise. With only two vines, the shellfish pokemon proved to be difficult to hold up.

"Toss it up high!" May shouted.

"Saur!" May's pokemon shouted as it threw the shell containing Blastoise up high as it retracted its vines.

"Now use razor leaf!" May ordered.

"Get out of there!" Gary shouted.

"Venusaur!" The seed pokemon shouted as it fired it razor-sharp leaves at the shell that it had thrown up in the air that began falling back down to the ground. Blastoise's head, arms, cannons and legs popped out of the holes and were struck by the leaves.

"Blast!" The shellfish pokemon boomed as it landed on the ground with scratches from the razor leaf.

"Use petal dance!" May shouted.

"Vee!" The seed pokemon screeched as it stretched the opening on its flower at the opponent and released pink petals in a spiraling fashion. Gary's Blastoise was struck in the abdomen by the many petals sprouting from Venusaur's flower as it firmly held its ground by not moving and digging its feet into the field.

"Blastoise, hydro cannon!" Gary ordered.

"Blaaassssstoise!" The shellfish pokemon shouted as two orbs of water came out of the cannons on its back and smashed through the pink petals in the air, hitting May's Venusaur in the face with the ultimate water-type attack but still not doing much damage.

"_Water-type moves aren't very effective against grass-type pokemon."_ Gary thought. _"I'll have to use some other moves."_

"Nice try, Gary." May taunted. "Venusaur, use tackle!"

"Blastoise, skull bash!" Gary ordered.

Both pokemon shouted their names as they charged towards the other, their heads held low in order to obtain the best position to attack with. Venusaur smashed head-on with Blastoise in the centre of the field. Due to the strength of skull bash over tackle, the seed pokemon was taken aback further than Gary's.

"Use rapid spin, Blastoise." Gary shouted.

"Blass." The shellfish pokemon shouted as it withdrew its head, arms, cannons and legs into its shell and started floating in the air while spinning. After getting off the ground, the shell quickly slammed into Venusaur once again and pushed it back.

"Saurrrrr!" The seed pokemon shouted in pain. Blastoise quickly exited its shell while in mid-air and landed back on Gary's side of the field with a bang.

"_I don't have that many strong attacks with Venusaur."_ May reviewed. _"I've gotta end it with what I've got."_

"Blastoise, hydro pump!" Gary ordered.

"Blastoise!" The shellfish pokemon shouted as it aimed its cannons at Venusaur. Rather than go into its shell this time around, it chose to fire normally. The powerful stream of water came out of its cannons and headed straight for Venusaur.

"Venusaur, get through it with vine whip." May shouted.

"Saur!" The seed pokemon screeched as it sent up its vines through the hydro pump stream and plugged up Blastoise's cannons.

"What the?" Gary comically shouted.

"Venusaur, toss it away!" May shouted.

"Saur!" May's pokemon shouted as it tossed Gary's Blastoise up in the air once again. The shellfish pokemon was visibly angry at having been fooled by the same strategy twice, an emotion which its trainer was feeling at the same time.

"Use petal dance!" May ordered.

"Blastoise, use the gravity to help you with skull bash!" Gary ordered.

Both pokemon may their voice loud and clear as they followed through on their orders. Venusaur released many sharp pink petals from its flower at the fast-approaching shellfish pokemon.

Blastoise had its head pointed out forward as it sped down towards May's Venusaur with skull bash in its arsenal. The seed pokemon continued to fire its petal dance attack and the approaching Blastoise and managed to injure it while it was in the air.

"Venusaur, fire the petals faster!" May pleaded.

"Vee!" May's Venusaur shouted as it fired its petals from its back even faster. The petal dance attack began doing some more serious damage to Blastoise as it was on its way down with skull bash.

"Now!" Gary shouted.

"Blastoise!" The voice of the shellfish pokemon boomed as its head and shell smashed into the head of the seed pokemon opponent. Both pokemon were visibly disoriented after the collision and unable to maintain themselves.

"Saur." "Blast." The two pokemon said as they collapsed at the same time.

"Venusaur!"

"Blastoise!"

"Neither Venusaur nor Blastoise is able to battle anymore." Tucker declared. "Since the green trainer is out of pokemon, the victory goes to the red trainer!"

The audience cheered ferociously at Tucker's announcement. Gary recalled his Blastoise as May recalled her Venusaur. The trainers thanked their pokemon for their hard work.

"Sorry, Scizor." Gary said, looking down at a different pokeball in his hand. "Next time."

"Gary?" A voice said to the victor. He looked up to see his roommate's girlfriend staring at him. Her sapphire colored eyes pierced into him.

"May?"

"Congratulations." She said to him. Her voice was beginning to break.

"Thank you." He responded as he put his hands on her shoulders and they looked into each others eyes. "Let's go back."

"Sure." She whimpered. May and Gary then left the field through the exit. Tucker took his microphone and began his speech.

"With that, the quarter finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament are over!" He announced.

The crowd cheered at the revelation.

"Please exit the Battle Tower in an according manner." Tucker asked. "Will our four semi finalists please meet with me on the ground floor?"

* * *

"I'm so sorry for May." Dawn said.

"Pretty unfortunate that one of us knocked her out." Leaf said.

"Well it's only gonna get harder from here on in." Brock stated.

"What?" Both of them asked at the same time.

"Everyone in the semi finals is someone we know." Brock explained. He was careful not to allow Ash or Brendan to overhear.

"I get it." Leaf said.

"So that means, sooner or later they're gonna have to fight one of their friends." Dan realized. She still remembered the pain of losing to Brendan in the top 16 despite her intention to humiliate him for insulting her pokemon. Her battle against her boyfriend's roommate was the first time in the tournament that one of that gang battled one of their own. Gary's words eventually brought her out of the anger she felt from her loss, but now the stakes were higher.

"Guys?" Brendan asked the three trainers engaged in their conversation.

"Are you comin'?" Ash asked.

The vast majority of the audience had already begun leaving while Brock and the girls were talking. They got up and followed Ash and Brendan out of the 51st floor.

* * *

Back on the ground floor; Ash, Brendan, Leaf and Gary waited for further instructions from Tucker. May, Dawn and Brock had already left the tower and gone back to the house. The four semi finalists stood in front of the stage as the lights finally began to dim and Tucker walked out onto the stage accompanied by a spotlight.

"Congratulations, trainers." Tucker said. "You've made it to the semi finals."

Ash, Brendan, Leaf and Gary were the only trainers around. Camera crews were in the back, taping for the televised broadcast.

"Turn your attention to the screen behind you to see whom you will face in your next match." Tucker told them.

The four trainers turned around to notice the screen that informed them who their opponents in the final 8 were. The first two pictures were that of Ash with a green background and Brendan with a red background.

"The first battle of the semi finals will be Ash Ketchum against Brendan Birch." Tucker declared. The camera crews turned all their equipment to the screen for the viewers at home to know what was going down.

The screen then changed to pictures of Leaf with a green background and Gary with a red background. This was to signify who was to battle on which side in the next round since it was clear that they were the only ones left.

"This means that the second semi final match will be Leaf Green against Gary Oak." Tucker announced. "The format is a three on three battle and substitutions are not allowed."

"Tucker, what's the reason behind not allowing substitutions?" Ash asked.

"Don't ask me." Tucker comically responded. "The tournament committee is behind all that, they wanna juice up the finals is my guess."

"Cheap." Gary muttered.

"_Someone needs a lemonade drenching."_ Brendan thought.

"The semi finals matches will be held two days from now at 12:00 noon." Tucker told them. "We're holding them on the 60th floor."

"Hey, we need brighter lights on Tucker!" Someone from the camera crew shouted.

"You four can leave now." Tucker told the group. "There's nothing more for you to know."

"Thanks." The four said simultaneously but half heartedly.

"All the best to you four." He said as the spotlights overlooking him suddenly got brighter then before. "My eyes!"

* * *

Back at Leaf's vacation house, they sat in the living room and the gang told May, Dawn and Brock about the matches and how Ash would go up against Brendan while Leaf would battle Gary afterwards. The three of them were somewhat speechless at the revelation. They knew that they'd end up fighting one another but they had nothing to say about the matter.

"I guess its best if we leave it at that." Leaf softly suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Brendan said as he got up and went out the door.

"Where's he going?" Dawn asked.

"He mentioned something about the pokemon centre on the way over here." Gary explained. "He probably wants to heal and switch out after how badly his pokemon were injured last time."

The other six soon went their own way for a while. Brock called up his family in Pewter City and spoke to his father, Flint and was informed that the gym was operating successfully. May, Dawn and Leaf were in the attic engaging in what can only be described as 'girl talk'.

* * *

On the outside training field, Gary and Ash had been discussing their strategies for the semi finals for a while. Gary made up his mind eventually and went back into the house. Ash remained outside to inform his pokemon.

"Sceptile, come on out!" Ash shouted as he threw his pokeball into the air.

"Sceptile!" The forest pokemon said upon exiting its ball.

"Sceptile, I'm gonna need you in the next round." Ash told it. "There's a good chance that Brendan's gonna use his Swampert according to Gary."

"Tile." Ash's pokemon said as it put its arms up so show off its arm blades, signifying that it was ready to face its Hoenn region water-type starter pokemon counterpart.

"Awesome." Ash said. "Pikachu, I'm gonna need you too I guess."

"Pika!" The electric rodent cheered.

"Alright then, but were going to the pokemon centre first." Ash said holding out his pokeball. "Sceptile, return!"

"Pi?"

"I'm gonna need someone else for the battle against Brendan." Ash told the electric rodent. "Come o-" Ash began as he turned around and smashed heads with someone. It turned out that he'd smashed into Brendan who had just returned from the pokemon centre.

"Ash, what wrong?" Brendan asked.

"I was on my way to the pokemon centre." Ash explained as he got up and dusted off his shirt.

"So you've got a plan for our next battle?" May's boyfriend asked.

"Sure do." Ash confidently replied.

"Won't do you any good." Brendan taunted.

"You worry about yourself." Ash jokingly responded.

* * *

At the pokemon centre, Ash managed to call up Professor Oak of Pallet Town and speak with him about everyone's progress in the tournament so far.

"Congratualtons, I'll be sure to watch the broadcast when it is aired, Ash." Professor Oak assured the trainer.

"Thanks Professor." Ash replied. "How's my mom?"

"Your mother is in the town right now, I'll be sure to tell her you asked." The professor said. "Now then, you mentioned that you need another pokemon?"

"Yeah, could you send over Heracross?" Ash asked.

"Most assuredly." The professor replied. "Place one of your current pokemon on the teleporter and I'll take care of the rest."

"_Thanks for your hard work, Buizel."_ Ash thought as he put Buizel's pokeball on the teleporter.

"Okay Ash, I've set up Heracross's pokeball on this side." The professor told him. "Initiate the transfer when you're ready."

"Alright then, here we go." Ash said as he pulled a lever on the teleporter, effectively sending Buizel's pokeball to the professor and bringing over the pokeball containing Heracross.

"Ash, I've received Buizel on this end." Professor Oak told him.

"And I've got Heracross over here." Ash replied. "Thanks a lot, Professor Oak."

"Anytime, Ash." He responded. "Say hello to your friends for me, and all the best in the semi finals."

* * *

Upon reaching the training ground, Ash sent out his Heracross along with Pikachu and Sceptile, intending to begin his training for the semi finals.

"Heracross, Pikachu, Sceptile! The next round is for you three." Ash told them. "We've gotta start training now."

"Cross." "Pika!" "Sceptile." The three pokemon nodded in unison. Meanwhile, as Ash was breaking down the next round for them, Leaf exited the back of the house and approached Ash from behind, careful not to let him know she was coming.

"Alright so we're going up against Brendan and it's our most import-" Ash began telling them before he was cut off.

"Ash?" Leaf asked him.

"Leaf?" He was surprised to see the brunette in the hat as he turned around.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked.

"Yeah, what about?" Ash enquired.

"Remember when I went crazy and tried to set up that outing on the pier?" She explained to him.

"Yes."

"Pi!" The electric rodent shouted.

"Not now, Pikachu." Ash told his pokemon. "What about it?"

"You know I only did what I did cause…." She struggled to get beyond those words. After the tournament preliminaries were over, she'd gotten everyone in the house to help her with her plan to get Ash to the Olivine City pier with her, alone. Though the 'date' had gone well, Ash's anger upon returning home, finding out that he'd been set up and later on, his lashing out at Brendan caused Leaf to rethink some of her actions.

"I was…wrong." She admitted. Her voice was extremely apologetic, it seemed like she was building up to something bigger but was struggling to say it, almost out of fear.

"I forgive you." Ash bluntly told her.

"What? You forgive me just like that?" She was on the verge of shock to hear it. She'd been expecting him to blow up on her.

"I don't like holding grudges." Ash explained. "If anyone wrongs me and they give a real apology, I can forgive them."

"You're almost the same as you were six years ago." Leaf joked.

"I am?"

"You can never keep yourself in one mood too long." She stated. "I really liked that about you."

"Well you weren't exactly an angry kid back then either." Ash told her. "Not like someone else we knew."

"I know what you mean." She laughed, remembering an incident when they were five involving a human-sized can of lemonade at Gary's house.

"So then…." Ash hesitated.

"Cross!" The single horn pokemon cheered. It immediately began dancing around Ash as he stared on at Leaf, reminiscent of Totodile's dancing. Ash immediately tried to push Heracross back to waiting with Pikachu and Sceptile, who were standing patiently.

"Ash, have you ever been to the lighthouse here in Olivine?" Leaf asked him after he managed to forcefully halt Heracross.

"Huh? Yeah, I went there the last time I was in Olivine." Ash said as he turned around from his pokemon to face her again. "Why?"

"Well I…haven't been there yet and it's a major site here." She said. "Do you wanna go…tomorrow afternoon…with me?"

"Sure, as long as you're not planning something behind my back." Ash joked.

"So…it's a date?" She asked.

"I guess." He was clear to sound casual, but not too casual. He wanted her to know that he cared but not that he was desperate.

"So then…tomorrow?"

"It's tomorrow afternoon."

"I'll meet you then." She told him as she turned around and went inside.

Several moments after she'd gone back into the house, Ash started throwing his hands up in the air and jumping so high that even Sceptile was impressed. Pikachu somehow managed to get on the jumping trainers back and join him as he jumped in joy. Heracross opened up its wings and started flying around Ash with a bright smile on its face with its eyes closed.

"Heracrossssss!" The single horn pokemon shouted as it accidentally crashed into the jumping trainer while its eyes were closed. Ash, Pikachu and Heracross were immediately knocked down by the impact and began laughing as Sceptile looked on and covered its eyes with its palm in embarrassment.

* * *

Back on the inside, Leaf saw that Brendan was watching the incident with Ash from a window inside the house overlooking the training area.

"Brendan?"

"How you doin'?" He joked. "Getting ready for another night out with Ash?"

"For your information, it's in the afternoon at the lighthouse." Leaf told him before seeing the bigger picture. "And also…wait a minute; you could hear us from all the way in here?"

"I've got pretty good hearing; right now I think he's saying something to Heracross about controlling yourself." He said.

"Good for you…and Heracross too I guess." Leaf said.

"It will be for me if Heracross tries to limit itself."

"So you've seen which pokemon he's using?" Leaf asked Brendan.

"Yeah." Brendan admitted. "I can handle it, but I guess it'd be easier if I had Tropius."

"What happened?" Leaf asked.

"Tropius, Aggron and Rhyperior were injured pretty badly in the battle with Josh; Nurse Joy says they may not be able to battle when I need them." Brendan explained. "But since I still have Shiftry and Swampert, I know I can win."

"Good luck to ya." Leaf said as she walked away, not even taking a second look at the trainer in the funny hat.

* * *

Later on in the living room, Brendan and Brock engaged in a conversation as Ash stayed outside to train and the girls were in the attic and Gary was nowhere to be seen after Dawn mentioned something about lemonade while laughing.

"Brock, I still don't get it." Brendan said. "How did you get rid of the depression cloud around you?"

"Oh that?" Brock asked. "Well I guess it started when Ash came into my room after the 'date'."

"I know he went in, but what did he say?" Brendan asked.

"Well…I guess I'll start where he did."

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the attic, Leaf began discussing her future date with Ash. As expected, May and Dawn began trying to tell her everything that they though she'd need to know and told her about the lighthouse of Olivine City.

"Alright so you know what you're gonna do?" Dawn asked.

"Leaf, you look a little overwhelmed right now." May said. "What's the problem?"

"What am I gonna wear on this date?" Leaf shrieked.

* * *

Rayquaza45: So that's the end of chapter 12. Please remember to review now cause I don't wanna think bad things about myself. Am I doing this cause I'm desperate? Yeah, yeah I am! SO PLZ REVIEW! The more reviews I get, the faster the next chapter gets here.

Next time: **Chapter 13: Olivine City Oyster**

Ash and Leaf go on their second date to the Olivine City lighthouse. While there, they reminisce about their past and discuss the future battles in the tournament when the stakes are truly high. Brock explains how Ash helped him get over the rejection. And what exactly happened to Gary?

I'm sure that readers of Pokemon Adventures (a.k.a Pokemon Special) know what the 'oyster' is referring to ;)

Till next time!


	13. Olivine City Oyster

Rayquaza45: Hey there, readers! I hope you're ready to read another chapter and review it when you're done. I'm sorry it took a while to get this up, but if you want faster update, you need to review more. I know fans of Ash & Leaf have been waiting for this, so without further ado.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Olivine City Oyster**

After their discussion, Leaf walked away as Ash continued to train with his pokemon. Both of them were occupied with their thoughts about their upcoming date. Ash managed to keep his thoughts aside long enough for him to train with Pikachu, and Sceptile while his Heracross proved to be more difficult as it kept doing things to mention Ash's upcoming milestone.

Eventually, Leaf and soon after, Brendan, took the field for their own training. Ash never told anyone about his date, though Dawn and May seemed somewhat sly around him. Eventually, Leaf and then Brendan came back and ended the day.

The next day, Ash called Brendan and Gary to his room and began telling them the story.

"Seriously?" The future researcher asked. "You didn't ask her, she asked you?"

"Yeah, is that so hard to believe?" The raven haired trainer aggressively shouted. Was he implying that he was something less of a man for her to have asked him?

"Calm down, Gary." The trainer in the hat told him. "I was there when she and Ash were talking."

"What?" Ash shouted. "No you weren't, Brendan!"

"Oh yeah, I was just listening from afar." He said in a joking manner, despite telling the truth.

"Leaving that aside, why are you only telling us now?" Gary asked Ash directly.

"Because I don't know how to go on a date!" Ash told them in anguish.

Brendan was confused. "You went out on that first date with Leaf." He pointed out.

"Yeah well I didn't figure out what it was until half way through!" Ash reminded them. "But I agreed to it this time, I'll know what's going on right from the start."

"So you're afraid that she'll be calm but you'll be nervous and act weird?" Brendan asked.

"I guess." Ash shrugged.

"I get that." Gary smiled. "She's always been a lot smarter than him."

"Exac- hey!" Ash shouted.

"Calm down Ashy, you know she's smart." Gary reasoned.

"Don't call me Ashy!" He shouted.

"Alright, alright you two." Brendan said with his palms in the air. "Take it easy. Ash, why are you only telling us now?"

"I thought I could get over the nerves myself, but I couldn't." Ash explained. "And Brock's still sleeping."

"I say you should just keep your mind off it and keep reminding yourself how much you like her." Gary advised him.

"Yeah, focus on that…a lot." Brendan said in a tone that would make anyone's eyes widen.

"Don't even go that far." Ash said. "Brock's the only one who gets away with that kind of stuff."

"I guess I can understand that." Brendan said. "Now that he's out of his depression after all."

"I guess." Ash said.

"What're you talking about?" Gary wondered aloud.

"Remember when Brock was all depressed after the final preliminary round?" Brendan asked.

"Yeah." Gary answered. "What about it?"

"Turns out the local gym leader he was hitting on had a boyfriend." Brendan explained. "She said no to him and he came back all depressed and Ash got him out of it after his last date."

"How did he get him out of it though?"

"With the same story he told us back when we opened the safe."

"I never told Brock about my history with Leaf and for some reason or another, he never questioned it." Ash went on. "When I talking to him about Jasmine rejecting him since she was taken, I told him about Leaf, how we took that picture and everything that had happened till that point."

Gary was quite surprised. "And all of that made him come out of it?"

"No matter how bad you've got it, there's someone who's got it worse than you." Brendan stated.

"True enough." Gary admitted.

"Brock's pretty much promised not to get involved with this thing and I'm not even sure if Dawn and May know that he knows." Ash said. "But now, I've gotta get myself ready."

* * *

At precisely 12:00pm, Ash was outside the front door, getting ready to ring the doorbell and take Leaf on their date in true boyfriend-like fashion. But suddenly, as he was preparing himself, the door opened and there stood someone other than Leaf.

"Brock, what're you doing?" Ash asked.

"Just checking up on you." He responded. "Why are you wearing that?"

"What's wrong with it?" He asked, looking down at his clothes. He was wearing a blue hooded sweater with blue jeans and a red and black hat with a green pokeball symbol on it.

"They're the same clothes you wore in Hoenn." Brock pointed out. "It's not very romantic to go on a date like this."

"On the last date, I was in my Sinnoh region outfit." Ash pointed out. "I even tried to change but Leaf stopped me before I could."

"Well I guess if you think you know what she likes, I'll leave it to you." Brock decided.

"Thanks now leave me to my thoughts 'cause I'm nervous enough." Ash pleaded.

"Alright, then." Brock smiled. "Lemme go get your date." He laughed as he closed the door.

"Brock, wait don't do tha-" He stopped as the door shut. "Dang."

It took a few more minutes for Leaf to get herself ready. She'd spent a lot of her post-training time yesterday talking to May and Dawn about what she should wear. Ash struggled with his decision to leave Pikachu with Gary and Dawn for the day, since he knew he and Leaf may not get around as much as they like with him tagging along. The decision was a long and tough one to make and he needed to talk to everyone about it so they'd take care of him, everyone except Leaf, that is.

"Hi Ash." The trainer's date said as she came out of the house, ready to leave.

"Leaf…hi." He responded in a dazed way.

The brunette was dressed in a turquoise skirt, red sleeveless top and a brown hat. The look appeared to be an inverted image of what she normally wore if it had become much fancier, but what did Ash know about inversion?

"Are you ready?" She asked him as she held out her hand.

"Yeah." He told her as he took her hand. "I'm ready."

* * *

The Olivine City lighthouse was the destination. It was also known as the 'Glitter Lighthouse', supposedly because of the way the sun shines in through the roof at the very top during the peak noon hours. It's considered a beautiful sight and the lighthouse is one of Olivine City's landmarks, which makes it a major tourist attraction.

"This place is huge!" Leaf exclaimed as she and Ash walked through the front entrance, still holding hands.

"Yeah, it's been while since I was here." Ash told her. "I'd really forgotten."

The floor and walls were made of stone which had some visible cracks in it here and there. The bottom was round in shape and had a wooden staircase circling up to the next level. Pictures of various periods in the history of Olivine City were hung up on the walls, representing the time of founding to the present.

"There isn't much here, how about we go to the next floor?" Leaf suggested, lightly tugging on Ash's arm.

"Sure." Ash agreed.

The two teens ran up the stairs side-by-side almost as if in an adventure movie. When they arrived at the next floor, they saw numerous information desks spread all around the floor. People in tour guide uniforms were walking around distributing pamphlets while some others were at the desks, explaining the various statistics of the lighthouse such as its 189 foot stature.

"Hello there." A young lady dressed in the guide uniform approached Ash and Leaf. "Are you looking to tour the lighthouse?"

"No, we were just looking around." Leaf told the guide.

"Well feel free to take as much time as you need." She advised them. "We guides are here if you need anything."

"Thanks for letting us know." Ash said.

Information available on the Olivine City lighthouse stated that the monument was still functional. The light had a focal point at 165 feet above the water mark. It had endured a number of attacks such as natural tidal waves, heavy winds and a storm started by a gang of enraged Gyarados and later calmed down by some Wailord and Corsola

"This place is really interesting." Leaf commented.

"I had no idea you were intrigued by history." Ash tried to say in the coolest possible way, something Leaf took notice of.

"I didn't know that Ash Ketchum was such a flirt." She smiled.

"What?" Ash sarcastically asked. "Me? Flirting?"

"I knew it, Ash." She said as she walked up the stairs to the third floor.

"Leaf, come back!" The raven haired trainer shouted as he ran after her on the stairs.

* * *

The third floor of the lighthouse was an observation deck. They were about 85 feet above the ground now and binoculars were surrounding the windows. Ash looked over to see Leaf looking through a pair of binoculars as he slowly crept up behind her, intent on scaring her. He continued to tiptoe forward until…

"Don't even think about it, Ash." She said with her eyes still occupied by the binoculars.

"How'd you know I was coming?" He asked.

"I guess I just know you really w-WHOA." She shouted.

Ash immediately ran to her side. "What is it?"

"Articuno!" She told him.

"You can see an Articuno?" He asked her disbelievingly.

"Well something big and blue is flying around far out there." Leaf said. "I can't think of anything else that fits that description."

"How far away is it?" Ash asked.

"Really, really far." Leaf responded. "I can barely even see it."

"So how can you tell that it's really an Articuno?" Ash inquired.

"I like to be optimistic." She smiled as she finally got off the binoculars. "Go ahead, you try finding it."

Ash immediately had his eyes glued to the machine, looking every which way to identify the flyer which Leaf claimed to be a legendary pokemon. Though the sky was very sunny and the clouds were few, Ash could find no trace of the legendary freeze pokemon or of the snow that was said to be created when it flapped its wings. After a few more moments of looking, Ash gave up.

"Leaf, I really can't see anything." Ash complained.

"I guess you've missed it, no sweat." She laughed. "Legendary pokemon wouldn't be legends if everyone saw them."

"_You don't even know the half of it." _Ash satisfactorily thought.

"So I say we go to the next floor?" Leaf suggested.

"_I guess I won't be the one controlling the pace here."_ Ash thought before giving his answer. "Yeah."

* * *

The fourth floor of the lighthouse was completely bare. A few pillars were present for support but nothing noteworthy seemed to be on this floor. That was, until a girl a few years older than Ash and Leaf came out from behind a pillar. She wore a small white blouse over a knee-length blue dress and a red ribbon on her chest. Her long brown hair went down to her back and had small orange clips in it.

"Leaf Green?" The girl asked as she saw Leaf and Ash.

"Jasmine!" Leaf immediately recognized the girl as the Olivine City gym leader.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "You said you'd leave after winning the mineral badge."

"I stuck around for the Battle Spirits Tournament." Leaf informed her. "And…for one other reason."

Jasmine took the subtle indication to refer to Ash, the raven haired boy in the sweater.

"Hello Ash Ketchum." The gym leader greeted him. "It's been a while."

"Hey there, Jasmine." Ash responded. "You're right, it's been a while."

Suddenly, a man at least a year or two older than Jasmine came from around the pillar and drew the attention of the three. He had light blue hair and blue eyes. He wore black shoes and black pants with a black full-sleeved shirt with purple lines, cufflinks above his elbows, a red undershirt and white collar.

"Ash?" The man asked with a tone of familiarity.

"Steven!" Ash asked in a bout of surprise.

"I thought that was you, how've you been?" He asked.

"I've been…what are you doing here?"

"I come to Olivine City a number of times these days." The former Hoenn champion stated. "There are a large number of rare stone to collect and something even rarer." As he said the latter, he put his arm around Jasmine.

"_I get it; Steven's the rock collecting boyfriend!" _Ash realized. Jasmine turned down Brock's advances because she said that there was someone from Hoenn who came to Olivine to collect rocks, but nobody seemed to guess that the guy was the wealthy son of the Devon co. president as well as the former Hoenn region champion.

"Steven and I decided to visit the lighthouse today." Jasmine explained as she subtly turned to her boyfriend with glaring eyes. "But he seems more interested in checking out the foundations of the building."

"This lighthouse is a historical site the likes of which are not replicated anywhere in this world." Steven defended himself.

"Jasmine, can I talk to you?" Leaf asked.

Looking back and forth from Leaf to Steven, she nodded her head. "Sure."

"Leaf, I-" Ash started before he was cut off.

"Sorry Ash, girls only." Leaf said. She and Jasmine went to the second floor to make sure Ash and Steven couldn't hear them. Ash and Steven went up to the windows and stared outside at the sky for a while. Well, Ash did but Steven couldn't get his eyes off the rock formations in the distance.

"You know, Leaf said she saw Articuno through the binoculars downstairs." Ash mentioned.

"Would you like to know something Ash?" Hoenn's former champion asked.

"Sure!" The raven haired trainer eagerly responded.

"There were curiously large numbers of Altaria in the area earlier today." The blue haired trainer revealed. "But don't tell her."

"So…she was just imagining it?" Ash wondered.

"Most likely, she just wanted you to take an interest in her." Steven suggested.

"Take an interest?" He made it seem like Ash was being forced on the date. Surely he was mistaken, if Ash didn't really like Leaf, he wouldn't have gone on the date.

"Not necessarily just interest, but an initiative." He answered. "Tell me Ash, why her?"

"What do you mean?"

"I still remember the time we met back in the Granite cave, you traveled with that girl in the red bandana." Steven recalled. "What separates that girl from Leaf?"

"What separates May from Leaf?" Ash asked.

"Not just her, but any girl." Steven went on. "She has to be unique to you in order for you to really value her influence in your life."

"Well I've knew her back when we were kids and she was my first kiss." Ash told Steven.

"Well that's something right there!" Steven exclaimed. "You have a history which already involved romance."

"Well I wouldn't say-"

"Are you comfortable being romantic around her?" Steven asked, cutting Ash off.

"Am I comfortable being romantic around her?" Ash repeated. "Well, I mean, I've never really been interested in romance before I met her again…and I'm not exactly smooth and confident about it."

"I see." Steven acknowledged. "You know Ash, there's a saying in the Hoenn region."

"A saying?" Ash asked.

"_So long as you possess courage, the world shall be your oyster."_ Steven recited.

"What does it mean?" Ash asked.

"It means that as long as you have courage and believe in yourself, there's nothing you can't do." Steven explained. "If you want something, you have to go for it."

"So if I _was_ interested in Leaf…"

"Don't deny it Ash, you like her and she likes you." Steven laughed. "Right?"

There were several moments of silence before Ash decided to answer. He'd just met Steven for the first time in two years and he was already giving him advice on his love life. If he'd wanted corny advice, he'd listen to Brock. But the strange thing was, Stevens's advice wasn't corny, it made a lot of sense, something which made Ash wonder.

"Steven?" Ash asked. "How come you take this kind of interest in other people's affairs?"

"Well let's just say if someone had tried to help me like this, I'd have had an easier time when I was your age." Steven explained.

"So you had a lot of problems?" Ash tactlessly asked.

"I guess you can say that." Steven submitted. "As the son of the Devon corp. president, you can imagine the wealth I grew accustomed to. Girls were easily submissive because of it and I couldn't bring myself to use money to my advantage."

"I think that just proves you're a decent person." Ash said to the former champion.

"Thanks Ash but it doesn't quite end there." Steven revealed. "I decided to completely shrug off communication with the opposite gender until I could find a way to get over myself. I now greatly regret that decision."

"So Steven, why Jasmine of all girls?" Ash asked in the same tone Steven had earlier used on Ash.

"Because she doesn't care about my money." Steven told him. "After we met and I felt like I could trust her, if only a little, I've tried every trick in the book to spend money but she always finds a way to limit my spending."

"She really manages to outsmart you?" Ash asked, not realizing the deeper issue.

"That's not the point!" Steven furiously blushed.

"But it is _a_ point?" Ash snickered.

"Do you want me to continue or not?" Steven furiously asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry, continue." Ash said.

"Well she genuinely doesn't care about my money or any aspect of my life surrounding it." Steven explained.

"_Seems too good to be true." _Ash thought.

"She knew a lot about me before I even arrived in Johto and we're both steel-type trainers." Steven went on.

"Compatibility?" Ash asked. Of course it had to be. She wasn't too good to be true; she was exactly the good he deserved.

"That's right." Steven said. "And I gather that you can admit to her being good looking."

"Well…I…"

"No need to answer, your silence speaks louder than yours words." Steven laughed.

Ash gave Steven an 'are you serious' look before turning back to the window. He and the former champion of the Hoenn region were silent for a few more minutes until their significant others returned. Leaf stood next to Jasmine as they came off the stairs.

"Hello boys, weren't discussing us were you?" Jasmine taunted them, but Steven more directly.

"You know me better than that." Steven told the brown haired gym leader.

"Ash, ready to go upstairs?" Leaf asked.

"You mean were…"

"We've got a lot more to see and do here." Leaf told him. "Steven and Jasmine have some other business to take care of, right."

"What?" Steven asked.

"Yes Leaf, we do." Jasmine said. "Hope you and Ash enjoy yourselves."

"Oh we will, I know it." Leaf laugh, grabbing Ash's arm and running up the stairs to the fourth floor.

"B-bye Steven, Jasmine.' Ash waved goodbye as Leaf took hold of him and they ran upstairs. Both steel-type trainers waved goodbye to the two young trainers as Jasmine forced Steven to go down the stairs with her following later on.

* * *

The fifth floor of the lighthouse was quite spacious. There were very few pillars like the third floor had and there were large numbers of trainers roughly the same age as Ash and Leaf hanging around. One such trainer's eye caught Ash as he entered.

"Hello there, Ash." The trainer said as he approached.

"…Who are you?" Ash asked, causing the trainer to sweatdrop in comical fashion.

"What the…k…you don't…remember me…" The trainer stuttered.

"Now, I'm sorry, I don't." Ash stated.

"I'm Landon, the guy you teamed up with in the preliminaries!" The boy told him furiously.

"Oh yeah, I remember now!" Ash slowly came to realize.

"How'd you forget me!" He shouted.

"Come on, a lot's happened since then." Ash reasoned. "How've you been?"

"Well after I lost in the second preliminary round, I've been here training." Landon explained. "And I've been watching you on the TV broadcast, you've been doing great!"

"You well, you know…" Ash laughed as he kept his hand behind his head.

"Ahem." Leaf pretended to cough as it looked more and more like Ash was ignoring her.

"Oh…uhh…yeah, Landon, this is Leaf." Ash told his former partner.

Without even hesitating, Landon took Leafs hand and started shaking it like a fanboy. Leaf looked on with a very confused look as Ash developed a growing touch of jealousy.

"Hello Miss Green!" Landon said in the utmost polite tone. "I'm sorry for not recognizing you! I need to say, I think you'll be the one to wins the Battle Spirits Tournament!"

"What was that?" Ash asked.

"You have exactly what it takes to win it all." Landon continued. "I'm sure you defeat Gary Oak and then Ash or Brendan whom so ever comes next!"

"Oh wow, I've never heard compliments like that." Leaf blushed.

"_I've never heard crap like that before."_ Ash thought.

"Well I mean it!" Landon said. "I'll be rooting for you all the way!"

"Landon!" Ash shouted.

"Oh come on Ash." Landon said lazily. "Don't be so uptight."

"I'm not being uptight, she's with…"

"You?" Landon asked. Ash didn't respond, but he kept staring into Landon's eyes, hoping he'd get the message.

"Landon." Leaf said softly.

"You guys…I'm really sorry." He said. "I didn't know."

"Well you do now." Ash told him.

"I'll see you guys later." Landon said as he walked away.

"Ash, come on." Leaf whispered to her date. "You've already partnered with him before."

"Hey, Landon!" Ash shouted after his former partner.

"Yes?" The trainer asked as he came back to their side immediately.

"So…you know this lighthouse pretty well?" Ash asked.

"Oh, you bet I do!" Landon exclaimed. "Want me to show you around?"

"If you can show us the sixth floor, that'd be good." Leaf told him.

"I'll do that!" Landon said. "And I'll show you how great it is up there!"

* * *

Ash's former partner immediately signaled the two trainers as he ran up the stairs to the fifth floor. Ash and Leaf followed quickly after and arrived as well. Landon was holding out his right hand in a tour guide-like manner to show them what lied ahead. The sixth floor was a small room with an Ampharos in the centre, hooked up to a strange device that was producing light.

"Is that Jasmine's Ampharos?" Leaf asked.

"That's right." Landon said. "It's the pokemon that produces the light that comes from the lighthouse at night, so as you cam imagine, it's quite powerful."

"So what does it do when it's not nighttime?" Ash asked.

"Generally, Jasmine takes care of it and visits it every day." Landon explained. "Today, she and a man with blue hair came to see it."

"_That'd be Steven, no doubt."_ Ash thought.

"So other than that, there's really not much on this floor?" Leaf asked. "Is there?"

"Truthfully, no." Landon answered.

"So the-" Ash started before he was cut off.

_And how can the world want me to change,  
They're the ones that stay the same.  
They can't see me;  
But I'm still here._

"Hello, it's Landon." Ash's former partner said as he answered his cell phone. "Seriously? Gotcha!"

"What's the problem?" Leaf asked.

"I gotta go take care of something or another, I'm really sorry guys but I gotta go." Landon revealed.

"Hey don't be sorry, it was great seeing you again." Ash said.

"You two Ash, good luck in the semi-finals, both of you." Landon said as he ran off.

"See ya!" Ash said as he waved goodbye as his former partner ran down the stairs.

"Ash?" Leaf asked after Landon was gone and the two of them were alone on the floor with only Ampharos around.

"Yes Leaf?"

"You know the next battles are gonna be the most important yet." Leaf said.

"I know." Ash said. "At this point either you, me, Brendan or Gary will end up being the winner."

"You're right." Leaf said. "At this point, audiences get crazier and we all get more tense."

"I guess we just deal with it as it comes." Ash suggested.

"Ash, I wanna tell you something."

"…Yes?"

"I want you to meet me…" Leaf started. "Meet me in the finals."

Meet in the finals. Will he manage that? Can he guarantee her that he'll defeat Brendan in the semi finals? Is she so sure that she can defeat Gary?

"I…I'll see you there, Leaf." Ash told her. "And we won't hold back, will we."

"No, we won't." Leaf assured him as she held her palm out, face down. "Shall we go home?"

"Let's." Ash said as he gently took her hand and they walked down the stairs.

* * *

Ash and Leaf proceeded back to the vacation house together, still holding hands all the way back. They took the front entrance to prevent anyone training in the back from seeing them. Both of them got to the front step and opened the door into the house.

"Hello, you two." A voice called out as soon as they entered the door.

"What?" Leaf asked as she twisted her head in every direction looking for the source of the sound.

"It's just me." Dawn said as she revealed herself to have been hiding around the corner.

"Why are you waiting in ambush?" Ash asked.

"Don't think of it like that." Dawn laughed. "Think of it like…anticip-YOU'RE HOLDING HANDS!"

They were. Leaf looked at Ash and then back at Dawn. Ash looked at Leaf and back at Dawn too. The both of them shrugged at Dawn simultaneously, doing their best to keep their cool and avoid blushing.

"Oh!" Dawn squealed as she ran up the stairs, presumably to gossip to someone else.

Ash and Leaf noticed that they were alone on the inside now that Dawn had gone upstairs. They both went to the kitchen to see the outside training ground. Brendan's Swampert was in a training battle against Gary's Scizor and Brock was the acting referee.

"Ash, wanna check out the attic?" Leaf asked.

"The attic?" Ash wondered. "What's in there?"

"It's where I usually hang out and talk to Dawn and May." Leaf revealed. "There's a lot of cool stuff up there."

"I…guess." Ash submitted.

* * *

As Ash and Leaf walked up to the attic, Ash remembered something; the safe in which the picture of Leaf kissing him had come from the attic. If that was up there, he'd likely have to deal with it. And if that was that, what else from their past was?

The attic was only accessible by pulling on a rope to bring down a staircase which would allow you to walk into the attic. Ash found the rope and was able to bring down the staircase with surprisingly little effort. He and Leaf walked up and noticed two figures in the corner.

"Hello lovebirds." One voice said.

"What were you planning to do up here?" Another asked.

"Expose you!" Leaf asserted, pulling on a chain with turned on a very bright light in the centre of the attic. The light eliminated the darkness and exposed the two figures as May and Dawn sitting on a safe, the exact safe where the picture was kept.

"Oh, you're no fun." May complained.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Leaf asked. "Least of all with the entrance blocked."

"You said we could come here if we wanted." Dawn said. "And you know that the stairs can be opened from up here."

"Not if someone locks them from the bottom."

"You're joking."

"Try me." Leaf smiled, making Dawn and May realize the predicament they could've been in. Both girls stood up, Dawn turned to Ash and Leaf as May picked up the safe they were sitting on. Ash started sweating uncontrollably.

"We all know what's in here, right?" May asked, holding up the safe.

"Yeah." Leaf said, eliciting a nod from Ash and Dawn.

"We wanna hear the story." May told her.

"Of that picture?" Leaf asked.

"Please Leaf."

"Ash."

Leaf looked over at Ash for a minute before answering May. She knew that Ash wouldn't have remembered the circumstances surrounding the kiss but she did. Ash looked at her, curtly nodding to give her his approval.

"May…Dawn." Leaf started. "Get comfortable."

* * *

(Pallet Town, Kanto Region)

(Roughly Six Years Ago)

* * *

On top of an average sized tree, a brown haired boy roughly eight years old was doing his best to balance one of the branches near the top. He was wearing black sweatpants and a blue shirt with a small green medallion hung around his neck.

"Hey Leaf, you gotta check this out!" The young boy shouted to a girl below.

Down below the tree, there was a girl roughly the same age as the boy. She had brown hair which was slightly lighter than the boys. She wore a black dress and brown shoes.

"Wow Gary, you're so high!" The girl exclaimed.

"Garyyyy! Leaf!" A voice called out from the distance.

From out of nowhere, a young boy with raven hair appeared behind Leaf. He was wearing blue pants and a yellow shirt. He had brown eyes and was acting quite hyper.

"Hi Leaf!" He greeted as he arrived.

"Hi Ash, how are you?" Leaf asked.

"I'm fine!" He responded. "You guys are never gonna believe what I saw!"

"You're right, Ash, so don't bother telling us!" Gary shouted from the tree.

"What was that!" Ash furiously shouted.

"Oh Ash, come on, don't get so worked up." Leaf advised him, trying her best to avoid a confrontation.

"Let him, he could use the motivation!" Gary taunted him.

"You get down here!" Ash shouted at Gary as he began climbing the tree.

"Ash, come on!" Leaf shouted. "You've never climbed a tree in your life!"

"Yeah, well I'm doing it now!" He shouted back. _"I'm gonna look so cool."_

"Get down before you hurt yourself!" Leaf pleaded.

"Oh, let him learn the hard way." Gary laughed, sitting comfortable on the branch with his legs dangling.

"Gary!" Leaf shouted.

"Hmp…hrgh…dang…uhh." Ash continued to grunt as he climbed the tree.

"Ash, give up, you can't get this high without practicing!" Gary told him.

"I can and I will!" He stubbornly shouted.

"Ash, watch out for that broken branch there!" Leaf warned him.

But it was too late, Ash stepped on the semi-broken branch without realizing it and it snapped instantly under his weight. Ash struggled to keep his hold on the other branches but he was unable to do so and ended up letting go of them, falling backwards with his arms in the air.

"Waaaarghhh!" Ash screamed as he fell back to the ground.

"Ash!" Gary worriedly shouted.

"No!" Leaf shouted.

A small 'thud' was heard as Ash hit the ground with his back. Gary immediately began climbing down as Leaf rushed to the fallen boy's side.

"Ash, are you alright?" Leaf asked as she knelt down next to him.

"Aaargh!" Ash shouted as he began trying to get up.

"Don't get up." Gary advised him, having come down from the tree.

"Man!" Ash whined, still lying on the ground.

"Lemme go get your mother, Ash." Gary suggested.

"Do it." Leaf told him.

"But...what...no." Ash stuttered as he tried to stop Gary. But it was too late as the tree climber had already gone.

What was his mother going to do when she found out Ash had tried to climb the tree? She was sure to be mad.

"Ash, why'd you climb the tree?" Leaf asked him as they were now alone.

"I just wanted to beat Gary?" Ash told her.

"At what?" Leaf asked. "Being stupid? Because I don't think either of you can ever beat the other."

"Hey!" Ash shouted.

"Sorry, sorry." She laughed. Her laugh was the most beautiful sound Ash had heard in his life. For a long time; Gary, he and Leaf had been friends. They'd gone to movies together, spent their afternoons and most available moments with one or the other.

"It's alright." Ash said softly, still staring into the sky from the ground.

"What's your mom gonna say when she finds out?" Leaf asked.

"She'll be upset." Ash said. "Maybe she'll lecture me about being responsible."

"How boring." Leaf joked.

"Yeah…"

It was a few more minutes before Ash's mother managed to show up. Ash and Leaf kept talking for a while longer. Ash's jokes kept both of them laughing and passed the time until Ash's mother AND Professor Oak showed up.

"Ash, what happened?" His mother, Delia Ketchum, shrieked.

"Well…" Ash started before her managed to…get up! "It was just some tree climbing."

"Now hold on." Professor Oak said, stroking his chin. "I thought you hurt your back."

"Oh well…" Ash laughed, stroking the back of his head. "I guess it's good now."

"How careless." Delia said. "Ash you could've been hurt."

"I'm sorry mom." Ash told her.

"Well… I guess as long as you're alright." She reasoned.

"Alright kids, I'd like you to go to the tree and strike a pose." Professor Oak said.

"Oh professor, not again!" Delia whined.

"What is it?" Leaf asked.

"The professor has been documenting everything these days." Delia explained. "He's taking pictures and making copies."

"Alright now, everyone go to the tree." Professor Oak pleaded.

Gary managed to get to the top branch of the tree before anyone else had noticed. Not wanting to waste time, Professor Oak allowed him to stay up there since it'd also give him an interesting angle to take the picture. Leaf stood on Ash's left ad Ash stood on the ground, beneath Gary in the tree.

"Alright now…three…two…one…cheese!" Professor Oak called out.

At the exact second that the professor said 'cheese', Leaf turned her head towards Ash and planted one on his left cheek. Ash suddenly got a very blank look on his face; he clearly hadn't been expecting _that_. Delia saw the ordeal but managed to keep her mouth shut for once and decided not to embarrass Ash.

"Well then…" Professor Oak said, somewhat stunned by the display. "Thank you all."

* * *

(Leaf's Vacation House, Johto)

(Present Day)

* * *

"Oh wow, that's the most romantic story I've ever heard!" Dawn squealed. "Affections touching through time."

"Really?" Leaf asked with a touch of sarcasm.

"_It'd make a decent name for a movie."_ Ash thought.

"If that was how it ended, how did Leaf get the picture?" May asked.

"Professor Oak had quite a few copies; he doesn't mind giving extras out." Leaf explained.

"So Ash managed to get up without even realizing that he'd hurt his back?" Everything was coming together for Dawn. "The power of love!"

"Power of love?" Leaf sarcastically repeated.

"I never did remember who took that picture, or even that my mom was there." Ash realized.

"Didn't your mom ever do anything to embarrass you about it?" Dawn asked.

"…No, not that I remember." Ash said.

"So…that's the story?" May asked.

"That's how it happened." Leaf proudly said, putting her palm on Ash shoulder.

"Yeah…that's how it was…I guess." Ash submitted.

There were a few minutes of silence before Dawn and May made their move.

"We're leaving." Dawn told them.

"Yeah, we kinda wanna go check out Gary and Brendan's training." May explained. "Ash, you should probably get to training too."

"Thanks." Ash sarcastically said. "I'll do that."

"Take it easy!" Dawn waved, stepping on the staircase and opening it to the bottom, allowing her and May to walk out of the attic.

"She's right Ash." Leaf reminded him. "You and I should both get to training."

"You wanna train together?" Ash asked.

"No." Leaf said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I just think we need to train, but if we see each others styles too much, we won't have as good a fight as we'd like in the finals."

"Yeah, the finals." Ash realized.

"Remember Ash, we will meet." Leaf told him.

"…Yeah." He agreed.

"Alright then." Leaf said as she stepped on the staircase, causing it to open up to let her out.

* * *

While both she and Ash left the attic, Leaf went to her room while Ash went to the outside training area. Ash noticed Brendan's Swampert still going at it with Gary's Scizor and Brock continuing to referee, though May and Dawn were not with them. Ash immediately went outside to talk to Gary.

He'd made the decision to leave Pikachu with him and Dawn, but Dawn didn't have Pikachu with her and so Gary must've.

"Gary!" Ash called out as he came out.

"Yo! Ash!" Gary shouted back as his Scizor landed a steel wing on Brendan's Swampert.

"Where's Pikachu?" Ash asked from afar.

"He's in the chair!" Gary told him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ash noticed a chair which had two yellow and black ears sticking out from the top. Ash slowly approached the chair, careful not to make any noise. As he approached the chair, he held his arms out and prepared to make the swipe. As he got closer and closer, he saw Pikachu's full form from behind and, after getting a little closer, he made the grab from behind!

"Pikachu, it's me!" Ash said as he waved his buddy around in the air like father waving his child.

"PikaPi!" The electric rodent called out, smiling as it flew through the air safely in Ash's arms.

"When these guys are done, we're gonna get some training done buddy." Ash told Pikachu. "You can be sure!"

"Pikachu!" The electric rodent gleefully shouted.

"Scizor, return!" "Swampert, return!" The two trainers called out as Ash continued to talk to Pikachu.

"Are you guys done?" Ash asked.

"Yup, at least for today." Brendan said.

"We're gonna go to the pokemon centre and have them healed quickly." Gary explained. "The field is all yours, Ashy."

"I told you not to call me Ashy!" Ash shouted.

"PikaPi!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Gary shrugged. "See ya later."

With that, Gary and Brendan took off for the pokemon centre. With Leaf presumably with May and Dawn, Brock was the only one available for discussion. Of course, considering who Ash met on his date, Brock may be the ideal person to talk to.

"Hey there, Ash." Brock said, having come over.

"Hi Brock."

"So?"

"So what?" Ash asked.

"So how was the date?" Brock asked, his face nearing Ash's personal space and his back bent over.

"It was…fine." Ash told him. Of course, knowing Brock, he couldn't go into details about them holding hands and since nothing really noteworthy happened, he couldn't say much.

"So how was the lip gloss?" Brock jokingly asked.

"She doesn't wear any!" Ash told him.

"So you know that for a fact?"

"I have eyes, don't I?"

"True enough." Brock submitted, figuring that if Ash had actually kissed her, he'd have lipstick on his face too. "So what happened, exactly?"

"PiPikachu! The electric rodent on Ash's shoulder shouted.

"Nothing much, but I met up with my partner from the preliminaries." Ash told him.

"Right, uhh…Landon was it?" Brock remembered. "How is he?"

"Well…he's fine." Ash said. "But…uhh…what happened here while we were gone?"

"_I'm getting the feeling he doesn't wanna talk."_ Brock thought about Ash before answering. "Not much, Brendan and Gary just trained."

"Well I gue-"

"Oh wait." Brock cut him off. "I was watching TV; it said Steven Stone, the former Hoenn region champion, is in Olivine City."

Of course he was. His girlfriend was the city's gym leader, after all. But he'd apparently been coming to the city before, so why was this visit mentioned on TV?

"Do you think he's gonna show up in the Battle Spirits Tournament?" Brock asked. "Hoenn's former champion and their current champion, Wallace! What a show!"

"Well…it's possible." Ash answered. He'd never exactly asked Steven anything about the tournament; he assumed that Steven didn't even know he and Leaf were participating, let alone that they were both in the semi finals.

"Well I guess we'll have to wait and see." Brock reasoned.

"Probably."

"Pika-chu."

* * *

While Brock soon went inside, Ash called out Heracross and Sceptile to begin his training. Setting up his previously made wooden targets on trees once again, Ash decided to focus on Sceptile's accuracy first.

"Alright Sceptile, this time, we're working on leaf storm!" Ash told it. "Fire at the middle target on my count."

"Sceptile!" The forest pokemon said as it assumed a fighting stance.

"3…2…1…fire!" Ash shouted. _"Let's see if it can stick to the one target only." _He thought.

"Tile!" The final form of the grass-type starter from Hoenn shouted as the seeds on its back started to glow light green, and it released a cyclone of wind and glowing light green leaves from the seeds towards the hanging target. The wooden target was completely shredded by the powerful attack.

"Awesome!" Ash cheered. "You did it perfectly!"

Ash did the same with Pikachu's thunderbolt and Heracross's megahorn attacks. As expected, the destroyed the targets they were assigned to and not a single other thing in the trees. The training continued for a while longer until Leaf showed up there with May. They both knew that Ash had been there for a while but now Leaf needed to have the facility for her own training.

"Yeah, no problem." Ash said.

"Thanks Ash." May said on Leaf's behalf for some reason. "Everyone needs their own training time."

"Pika!" The electric rodent shouted.

"Good luck, Leaf." Ash said as he turned his back and left.

* * *

Back on the inside, Ash began going up the stairs until he heard a door open up. Quickly turning his head, he saw Leaf approaching him. As he saw the beautiful girl approaching him, he started staring at her, still wearing the same clothes from their date; he continued to stand there, not moving a muscle.

"Ash." He called out from a few feet away. "Good luck tomorrow against Brendan."

"Thanks Leaf." Ash said. "Good luck to you too tomorrow."

Nothing else immediately happened so Ash began to turn and almost began going up the stairs. But before he did, Leaf quickly approached him and did something he hadn't expected. With his arms at his side, he stood there, unprepared.

She kissed him full on the mouth.

He'd never expected that. They hadn't kissed on their first date, but who did? Their second date had ended when they got back to the house, right? Both their eyes were closed so they couldn't see the others facial expression. It was Ash's first kiss in this manner and he'd never even considered what he was supposed to do.

He started getting nervous. It had actually been a while since it began but not so long that Ash was getting hurt. He didn't even know exactly how much time had passed since it began.

He nerves were being channeled all throughout his body. His feet began shaking. His knees were getting weak. His stomach was rumbling, but this could've just been his hunger. Why didn't they get anything to eat!

His left arm was bearing the brunt of the nerves. It began shaking little by little. Eventually, almost through no fault of Ash's own, it started moving upwards. In a 'cupped' formation, his left arm was moving from his side inch by inch up. Eventually, it started moving past some very thin material and began feeling something soft, something that was most definitely not an arm.

"Oh…Ash!" Leaf softly said as she deepened the kiss.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ash pleaded as he broke the kiss, having realized that his arm was grazing her thigh, and going somewhere else fast. "I got nervous, I'm sorry!"

"What…what?" Leaf asked, honestly not disapproving of what had been happening.

"No...I didn't mean…I…it was an accident!" Ash told her.

"Ash…it's o-"

"I'm sorry!" Ash cut her off. He immediately tried to run up the stairs but before he could, Leaf grabbed his arm and brought him back down next to her. But before Ash realized what to do, something even more unexpected happened than the first kiss.

She kissed him once more.

But this kiss on the lips was a lot shorter. Ash was still in shock from what he'd done to her and for this to happen again, was unbelievable. As soon as it began, it ended.

"Leaf."

"Don't worry about it…" She started. "…boyfriend."

"Boy…friend?"

"Goodbye!" She said as she headed back outside, turning her head and using her heart-melting smile on Ash as he looked on.

"Pi-Ka!" Pikachu exclaimed.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Ash asked his buddy.

"Pika!"

"I guess." He concluded.

"Pika Pikachu." The electric rodent believed.

"_I have a girlfriend." _He thought to himself as he ran up the stairs, jumping his own height as he reached the top with Pikachu at his side.

"So buddy." Ash said to his friend. "I guess now I have two reasons to fight tomorrow."

"Pika?" Pikachu asked him.

"I need to get ahead in the tournament." Ash told it. "And I'm gonna have someone to impress in the audience."

"PikaPi!"

Out of nowhere, Ash heard a noise from the outside, a heavy female shriek. Somehow knowing who it was and why they did it, Ash realized he'd done possibly the most mature thing he'd ever done. He recalled the words of the former Hoenn champion, realizing he was right, he needed to take initiative and have courage.

"So long as you possess courage..." Ash recited. "...the world shall be your oyster."

* * *

Rayquaza45: Alright so what did you think? Spicy enough for you? I hope so cause I really want you guys to enjoy this story. So make me happy and increase my confidence in my writing ability; review the chapter now that it is over. The more reviews I get, the faster the next chapter gets here.

Next time: **Chapter 14: Hats Off!**

The semi finals begin with Ash's battle against Brendan. Who will come out victorious and get through to the finals? What will their girlfriends do?

Till next time!


	14. Hats Off!

Rayquaza45: Hey there readers. Chapter 14 is now available for you guys to read. It took time but you got it. By the way, it occurred to me that some may be having trouble imagining the fields on which the battles are fought in this story. For this particular chapter, imagine the arena where Brendan had a cameo in move 9. And if you want faster updates, review the story and you'll get them. So without further ado, here it is!

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it.

* * *

**Chapter 14: Hats Off!**

With less than 24 hours before the semi finals of the battle spirits tournament were to begin, Brendan Birch and Gary Oak proceeded to the pokemon centre of Olivine City to give their pokemon a brief checkup.

The two friends were roommates as well as semi finalists. Brendan was set to face Ash Ketchum in his match first while Gary would take on his childhood friend, Leaf Green, afterwards.

They both entered the pokemon centre, the sliding doors opened to greet them and reveal the large groups of trainers in the centre who were busy watching telecasts of the Battle Spirits Tournament on the TV. Brendan and Gary got behind the group to see that the current match being viewed was Brendan's defeat of Josh the trainer, with Gary's battle against May presumed to air later that day or perhaps on the next one.

"Hey, behind us!" A boy shouted as he looked back.

"The semi finalists!" Another out exclaimed.

"_Oh boy."_ Gary thought in horror of being overcome by the crowd.

As expected, the two boys were quickly approached by numerous boys and a small handful of girls, most of whom were their age, who completely abandoned the TV match to talk to them.

"What pokemon are you gonna use next?"

"Can I have your autograph?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Most other questions were hard to hear over the other questions but it was clear that essentially all of them were ridiculous. Other audible questions were about marriage, lemonade flavors and something well known as the 'time traveling pokemon'. Eventually, the madness stopped when Nurse Joy and her Chansey showed up in between the boys and the large crowd.

"Alright everyone!" The pink haired lady spoke up. "These two are here on their business, please disperse."

Obeying her words, the crowds dispersed to go watch TV again and left Brendan and Gary alone to talk to Nurse Joy.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy." Brendan said gratefully.

"Yeah, really, thanks." Gary added.

"No problem, boys." She smiled. "So what can I do for you two?"

"We need our pokemon healed." Gary told her.

"No problem." She assured them. "Please give the pokeballs to Chansey and we'll have it done in a matter of hours."

The boys gave their pokeballs containing their Swampert and Scizor to Chansey and proceeded into the trainers lounge. Not a single trainer here swarmed them unlike the outside trainers who watch too much TV. The two of them walked around a little until they saw a familiar face.

"Lucas?" Brendan called out as he saw a boy sitting alone at a table wearing a reddish-orange hat, a red scarf over a blue and white striped t-shirt with light-blue sleeves. He wore blue jeans and white shoes with a red stripe at the end. The boy slowly turned his head to see the two approaching him and yet he barely made any other movements.

"Dude?" Brendan asked as he took a seat at Lucas's table. The Sinnoh region trainer looked emotionlessly into the Hoenn region trainer's eyes and kept his mouth shut. He didn't seem to be mad at Brendan, simply unwilling to speak.

"What's wrong?" Gary tactlessly asked Lucas.

"It's…it's nothing." He tried to tell them. Gary's words were breaking him down bit by bit and yet he didn't explain why. It seemed that Gary had some kind of influence over him.

"I know it's not nothing." Gary was now hovering over Lucas as Brendan continued to sit down with him and try to get him to open up.

"Come on dude." Brendan implored the boy. "You can talk about it."

"He's upset about the tournament, right?" Gary bluntly stated.

"No, that's not it!" Lucas defended himself.

"You think it should've been you, not Ash, who got through."

"No way!"

"That's why you're here feeling sorry for yourself."

"Gary!" Brendan shouted.

"No it's not!" Lucas sternly told him.

"Sure it is." Gary believed.

"You…I…it's about…damn!" Lucas started going ballistic with his words. He couldn't finish any sentences and kept freezing up in anger. Gary's words were seriously getting to him and he didn't know how to overcome it since it seemed that he was right.

"Gary, lay off." Brendan said to him. "Lucas, you can talk to me."

"I don't want to." Lucas whined.

"Trust me, keeping anything bottled up inside and not talking about it is about as bad for you as it gets." Brendan told him, knowing exactly what he was talking about considering what once happened to Ash.

"Well…"

"Take your time, dude." Brendan told him.

Of course, he took a lot more time than either Brendan or Gary would've liked. But even so, the two of them stayed with him to see it through to the end since they didn't have much else to do since their pokemon were still being healed elsewhere.

"Well…nobody likes to lose." Lucas came out.

"Yeah but we're asking you about your attitude issue." Gary reminded him. "Why are you acting like this? Who hurt you?"

"I guess it started when I met Dawn again for the first time in a while." Lucas started. "I was so happy to see her…and then after losing to Ash in front of her…"

"You think you made an idiot of yourself?" Gary sarcastically asked him.

"Is he gonna keep talking like that?" Lucas asked.

"Don't keep talking like that." Brendan told Gary who promptly put up his hands in an 'I'm sorry' gesture.

"Well…anyway…I'm not sure what else you want me to say." Lucas said.

"Just say whatever comes to mind." Brendan advised him. "It can't be that bad."

"Let's just say…I'll get over it." Lucas told the two of them. "I can figure it out myself."

"How can we be sure?" Gary asked him. "We have neither the time nor inclination to help you."

"I thought you were gonna stop speaking like that!" Lucas shouted.

"Guys, take it easy." Brendan reminded him.

"I'm leaving." Lucas said as he got up.

"You're going?"

"That's right."

"Come on dude, that's a little excessive." Brendan reasoned.

"Good bye Brendan…Gary." Lucas said as he started walking off.

"Dude!"

"Gary?" Lucas said.

"Yes?" Gary responded.

"Don't lose her." Lucas told him as he exited the lounge.

* * *

It had been several hours since Brendan and Gary tried to get Lucas to talk to them and even at that, they'd only spoken for a short time. Eventually, Brendan's Swampert and Gary's Scizor had been healed by Nurse Joy and allowed the boys to leave.

But on the way out, the noticed a friend of theirs was entering.

"Ash?"

"Hey guys!" The raven haired trainer exclaimed. He seemed to have a glow on his face and an aura about him that seemed to be somewhat brighter and even more inviting that usually which gave the feeling of a pleasant atmosphere.

"What're you doing here?" Gary asked.

"I'm here to give my pokemon a final checkup before the battles tomorrow." Ash explained. "Isn't that why you were here?"

"Well, yeah." Gary admitted.

"Ash, are you alright?" Brendan asked. He noticed that the raven haired trainer was even more peppy and bright that usual.

"Trust me, I've never been better!" Ash assured them. "I'll see you guys later."

"Alright then."

"Later."

Ash exited the pokemon centre as Brendan and Gary looked on. When he was almost out of sight, Brendan felt a heavy vibration in his pocket.

_Akogare ni oshitsubusarete  
akirametetan da  
hateshinai sora no iro mo  
shiranai de_

"Go for Brendan." He said as he answered his cellphone. Several moments passed as he spoke on the phone, as Gary looked. It seemed as if Brendan was intentionally hiding something from him. When he finally ended the call, he turned to Gary.

"You'll never believe which two trainers are together now." He told him.

* * *

The next day had come quicker than one would've thought. Ash returned from the pokemon centre some time last night and proceeded to bed right after having a brief conversation with Leaf, the details of which remained unknown to everyone else.

At 12:00pm, the semi finals were being held at the Battle Tower on the 60th floor. The set up of the floor was different from the other floors of the tower since it had a circular field for battle, one podium and two white squares painted on the ground close to the field, the podium for the referee and a square for each trainer. There were video screens all around the field of battle which were protected from the range and power of the pokemon attacks. The stands for the audience were several meters above the battle field, presumably to give a better view of the fights. The floor most closely resembled certain arenas of the battle tower of LaRousse City in the Hoenn region.

Several thousand fans made their way into the stands to witness the battles as they occurred. Leaf, Brock, May, Gary and Dawn sat in one of the rows closest to the field in order to get a good view of Ash and Brendan's battle. The excessive chatter of the spectators made it near impossible to listen to your own thoughts, something which greatly angered May as well as Leaf.

* * *

In the green preparation room, Ash Ketchum sat on a bench waiting for the referee to call him out to face his opponent. His buddy Pikachu was sitting next to him on said bench and had been mimicking its trainer's movements in its own anticipation.

"Are you ready, Pikachu?" Ash asked it.

"Pika!" The electric rodent responded.

"This is where it gets serious." He proclaimed. "We've gotta win this."

"Pi!"

* * *

On the outside, Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier who was acting as the referee for the match, came out of his room and took a stand at his podium. Taking the microphone that was present, he cleared his throat, getting ready to try and speak over the amazingly loud crowd.

"Welcome, one and all, to the semi finals of the BATTLE SPIRITS TOURNAMENT!" He loudly welcomed.

The audience cheered loudly at the announcement. Applause was heard briefly before Tucker put his hand back up, intent to finish.

"We have come a long way in this tournament but we still have a ways to go." He announced. "Today, we begin the semi final matches to decide who goes on through to the final battle so without further ado, will the green trainer please approach the field?"

* * *

Back inside the green preparation room, Ash heard the announcement.

"Let's get out there." Ash said, clenching his fist as he stood up.

"Pika…Pikachu!" The electric rodent shouted as it jumped up on its trainers shoulder.

"It's time." Ash said as he opened the door.

* * *

As Ash exited the preparation room and walked onto the field, the crowd started cheering wildly like never before. Excited at the idea of watching the semi finals loud noises from the audience continued till Ash made his way to his square with Pikachu on his shoulder. At that moment, the audience stopped their cheers long enough to allow Tucker to get a word out.

"And now…" The Dome Ace of the Kanto Battle Frontier started. "…will the red trainer please approach the field?"

Heeding the call, Brendan Birch, Ash's opponent, made his way onto the field. The cheers of the crowd were as loud for him as they'd been for Ash when he had come out.

"Ash." Brendan acknowledged.

"Brendan." The raven haired trainer responded.

"Ash, Brendan are you both ready for battle?" Tucker asked them.

"Yes." "Sure am." Both trainers affirmatively replied.

"Both trainers are ready for battle." Tucker announced. "So let us begin the semi finals!"

The crowd cheered loudly once again. Brendan and Ash assumed their battle poses as Pikachu got off Ash's shoulder and stood in a fighting pose next to its trainer. Brendan took out a pokeball from his belt but he saw Ash do no such thing.

"Both trainers are to release their pokemon simultaneously." Tucker instructed.

Ash quickly took out a pokeball with amazing speed and threw it into the air in the blink of an eye. "I choose you!"

"Go for it!" Brendan shouted as he threw his pokeball into the air before fully realizing what Ash did and feared that he may have sent out the wrong pokemon.

On Ash's side of the field came his Heracross, the single horn pokemon from the Johto region. On Brendan's side, Shiftry the wicked pokemon who had been used in the top 16 round took the field. The appearance of both pokemon elicited cheers from the ever present crowd, including a section known to the boys.

* * *

"This is gonna be great!" Dawn shrieked.

"It's gonna be really interesting to see how Ash and Brendan deal with one another in this battle." Brock stated.

"I say it'll be even more interesting to see Ash whip Mr. Whitehair." Leaf commented.

"He doesn't have white hair!" May shouted. "It's just a hat!"

May immediately started clawing around in a fiery rage at Leaf, who simply side stepped her attempts and pushed he back with little effort, causing her to fall on Gary's lap.

"Don't you think you two are tak-." Gary started before someone else's hand began covering his mouth.

"A wise trainer would never get in between a catfight." Brock wisely stated.

* * *

Back on the field, the cameras began showing every possible angle of the battlefield, the trainers and their pokemon. The audience had quieted down to a significant degree since they knew that if they were too loud, Ash and Brendan wouldn't be able to give the commands to their pokemon. Tucker took his microphone once again and decided that it was time to begin.

"Both trainers have now selected their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"

"Heracross, use horn attack!" Ash commanded.

"Shiftry, block it with razor leaf." Brendan told it.

The horn of Ash's Heracross began to glow a faint red as the single horn pokemon flew a few feet above ground, heading towards the wicked pokemon. Shiftry began swinging its arms and razor-sharp leaves flew at the approaching opponent. The leaves continuously left slight scratches on the approaching Heracross as it flew towards Shiftry. After it continued to get closer, it was clear that the razor leaf would not work and that Brendan needed to try something else.

"Shiftry, attack with aerial ace instead" Brendan commanded.

Shiftry immediately ceased its razor leaf attack and started running and jumped into the air, its body became surrounded by white streaks. The glowing horn of the approaching Heracross and the streak-covered body of Shiftry hit one another head-on. The wicked pokemon had inflicted some damage on Heracross but had not escaped unharmed as it had taken a heavy hit to its left arm.

"Heracross, are you alright?" Ash called out.

"Shiftry, get back in there with brick break!" Brendan shouted.

"Shift!" The wicked pokemon began running with its right arm in the air. It took on a white glow as it approached Heracross.

"Heracross, mega horn!" Ash ordered.

"Cross!" The single horn pokemon shouted with intense rage. Its horn took on a heavy white glow as it used its legs to thrust itself off the ground and propel it in the direction of the incoming opponent. Heracross quickly slammed its horn into Shiftry's body and sent the wicked pokemon reeling back.

* * *

"This is getting intense." Dawn said.

"Ash's pokemon are matching Brendan's pokemon hit for hit." Brock observed. "He may have to try something else to win."

"I guess Brendan won't be able to overwhelm Ash with power alone." Gary believed.

"Maybe." May reluctantly said with her arms crossed and a small bump on her head.

"_No, definitely."_ Leaf thought.

* * *

"Shiftry, aerial ace, again!" Brendan ordered.

"Heracross, focus punch!" Ash commanded.

"Shift!" "Cross!" The two pokemon shouted as they faced down the other and prepared for impact. Heracross's fist was glowing light blue while Shiftry's entire body began glowing white from the aerial ace. On impact, Heracross's fist slammed into Shiftry's body and somehow created a large amount of dust from the impact.

"Shiftry!" "Heracross!" The two trainers cried out for their pokemon as they were blinded with dust coming off the impact. The crowd was upset about the dust since they couldn't see anything on the field, even the screens surrounding the field were hard to see.

The dust eventually cleared up, revealing that neither pokemon had fainted yet. Brendan's Shiftry was facing away from its opponent. It was down on its knees with its eyes closed, having taken a heavy hit. Ash's Heracross was facing away as well; however, it was not on its knees and had taken no visible damage other than the razor leaf and aerial ace attacks Shiftry had used before.

"Shiftry! Get up, please!" Brendan pleaded.

"_Shiftry's down, we can win this."_ Ash thought to himself before he issued his command. ""Heracross, use mega horn!"

"Cross!" The single horn pokemon shouted as its horn began to glow white once more. Heracross opened its wings and turned around, flying towards the struggling-to-move Shiftry. Bending down, Heracross's horn struck the wicked pokemon in the back, sending it flying closer to Brendan's side of the field. Brendan knelt down to see his pokemon's face from a few feet away.

"Are you alright, Shiftry?" Brendan asked it.

"Shi…shift." The wicked pokemon replied.

"Do you wanna continue?" He inquired.

"Shift…shift."

"Alrighty then, let's win it!" Brendan responded.

Impressed by Brendan's determination, the crowd began their wild cheering once again but ceased once Brendan got back on his feet since he was going to continue the battle.

"_They want me to keep going."_ Brendan thought. _"That's what we'll do."_

"Are you continuing the battle with your Shiftry?" Tucker asked.

"That's right." Brendan said.

"Glad to hear it." Ash called out from across the field. "Heracross, use focus punch."

"Shiftry, use brick break." Brendan told it.

One of Heracross's arms began glowing light blue as it punched the opponent. Shiftry's hand was glowing white as it karate-chopped the incoming fist. The two glowing fists hit one another and sent both pokemon reeling backwards, their hands having been somewhat hurt.

"Heracross, use horn attack." Ash commanded.

"Shiftry, use aerial ace!" Brendan shouted.

Heracross horn began to glow a faint red as it got ready to take down Shiftry. Shiftry's body was covered in a white glow as it jumped into the air and aimed its body at Heracross. The impact of both attacks caused both pokemon to fall to the ground in pain since they had both scored a direct hit.

"_This is getting crazy."_ Ash thought to himself.

"_I've gotta figure something out." _Brendan thought.

* * *

"Brendan, come on!" May shouted from her seat.

"Ash, don't let him beat you!" Leaf cheered, both to support Ash as well as annoy May.

"This is gonna be a long match." Dawn subtly commented.

* * *

Back on the field, both Shiftry and Heracross were getting back up to fight. It seemed that the match had now turned into a battle of pride since both pokemon appeared equally stubborn and determined to win the battle. Both pokemon stared each other down.

"Heracross hera." The single horn pokemon said as it moved its head to the side, waving its horn to taunt its opponent.

"Shiftry shift." The wicked pokemon responded by putting up its fists.

"It looks like they wanna keep battling." Ash called out to Brendan.

"Then let's give 'em what they want." He responded. "Shiftry, use leaf storm!"

"Heracross, hyper beam!" Ash commanded.

The leaves on the arms of Shiftry began to glow light green, and it released a cyclone of wind and glowing light green leaves from its arms at its opponent. Heracross's horn began to glow gold and it fired an orange beam from it at the incoming leaf storm. The cyclone of leaves impacted with the hyper beam in the middle of the two pokemon. The powerful mean managed to completely destroy the majority of the leaves and hit Shiftry with its impact. The wicked pokemon was sent flying back from the impact, nearly unconscious from the battle. Shiftry struggled to get back to its feet and was still bent over for a while.

"Alright Heracross!" Ash cheered. "Let's finish it with mega horn!"

"Heracross!" The single horn pokemon shouted as it flew over to the injured Shiftry and its horn took on a white glow. With intense power, Heracross slammed into the wicked pokemon and sent it flying even further back. Shiftry did not move after the impact and stayed still on the floor.

"Shiftry is no longer able to battle." Tucker declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon."

"Thank you, Shiftry." Brendan said as he recalled his pokemon.

The cameras around the field showed every angle of the battlefield. Brendan's slightly worried face, Heracross's confident face and Ash's smile were all seen by the audience. Brendan immediately took out another pokeball amidst the cheering crowd. He could barely hear himself think before they finally quieted down.

"_Let's see who you're cheering for after this."_ Brendan thought as he released the pokemon inside the pokeball. "Go for it!"

"Mantine!" The kite pokemon bellowed as it exited its pokeball.

* * *

"A Mantine!" Dawn pointed out.

"So he's using a flying-type pokemon. It'll have the advantage against a bug and fighting-type like Heracross." Brock pointed out.

"Types aren't everything." Leaf stated.

"But they sure can make a difference." May gleefully said.

* * *

Back on the field, Tucker had to put up his hand once again to allow the cameras to see him and signal the loud audience to stop cheering. Once they did, Tucker got back to business.

"Now then, the red trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"

"Mantine, get up in the air!" Brendan ordered.

"Heracross, go after it!" Ash told it.

"Man." "Hera." The two pokemon said as they obeyed their orders. Mantine opened its huge wings and spread them apart as it glided upwards. The wings on Heracross's back opened up and started fluttering. Since it wasn't a flying-type, it didn't have as much experience flying as one so it usually kept close to the ground. This time, it was going several meters high to match up with Mantine.

Mantine was now above Heracross, floating effortlessly as Heracross struggled to get to where it was. As it looked down on the single horn pokemon, it began gliding in circles.

"Mantine, use hydro pump!" Brendan shouted from the field below.

"Mantiiiiiine!" The kite pokemon shouted as it unleashed a powerful jet of water from its mouth at the approaching Heracross.

"Heracross, get out of the way!" Ash shouted.

But it was unable to do so as the powerful water-type attack smashed into Heracross mid-flight and sent it crashing down to the ground below. A small cloud of dust erupted upon impact but dissipated as Heracross struggled heavily to get up.

"Mantine, use air cutter!" Brendan commanded.

"Mannnnn!" The kite pokemon screeched as it flapped its wings and a strong gust with light blue 'S' shaped energy in it flew and headed towards its grounded opponent.

"Heracross, wait for it." Ash instructed.

The 'S' shaped energy got closer and closer to the single horn pokemon. When it was barely a few meters away, Ash stuck his fist into the air and issued his command.

"Use hyper beam on it!" Ash shouted.

"Hera…crosssss!" The single horn pokemon shouted as it unleashed its orange beam from its glowing horn. The powerful attack smashed right through the 'S' shaped energy and headed straight into the air and clipped Mantine's back.

"It's just a scratch, Mantine!" Brendan shouted. "Get in there and win it with bounce!"

"Mant!" The kite pokemon bellowed as it folded its wings into itself and started dropping down on the field at an incredible speed. Within what seemed to be the blink of an eye, it was barely a few feet above the single horn pokemon.

"Heracross, use focus punch and knock it away!" Ash told it.

Heracross pulled its arm back as it began to glow light blue. Just before Mantine's bounce attack hit, Heracross pushed its glowing hand forwards and executed its focus punch as Mantine's attack hit. The resulting explosion created a great deal of dust which covered the field and limited the cameras vision.

Eventually, he dust cleared up and the cameras showed Mantine getting off the ground and returning to the air. Heracross, however, had been knocked out by the impact and laid face down, unable to move. Mantine's victory elicited cheers from the crowd as Ash hung his head at Heracross's defeat.

"Heracross is no longer able to battle." Tucker announced over the crowd. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon."

* * *

"Now that Heracross lost, who's Ash gonna use next?" Dawn wondered.

"Considering that Mantine is a water-type and a flying-type, a rock-type or electric-type would be best." Brock stated.

"Than I guess we all know who's coming out next." Leaf smiled.

* * *

"Pikachu, it's your turn to battle!" Ash told his partner standing next to him. Pikachu immediately took the field and stared up at the gliding Mantine.

"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Ash told it.

"Piiika chuuuuuuuu." The electric rodent shouted as yellow sparks appeared around its tail. Pikachu then released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at the gliding Mantine.

"Mantine, dodge it!" Brendan pleaded.

"Redirect it as it dodges, Pikachu!"

"Since when does Pikachu know how to redirect its thunderbolt?" Dawn asked aloud.

"Well electric attacks can be used in a variety of ways." Gary said.

"If Pikachu knows how to redirect its attacks, it could do it to follow Mantine." Brock explained.

"Yeah, but for how long." May wondered.

"Mantine, come back to the ground!" Brendan shouted.

Obeying orders, Mantine flew back to the field and glided along the ground as Pikachu's thunderbolt continued to pursue it. All of a sudden, Mantine made a sharp turn which Pikachu hadn't expected. The electric-type attack hit the ground and fizzled out against it, leaving Mantine unharmed.

"_Darn, I really thought that would get it!"_ Ash angrily thought.

"Gonna have to try harder than that, Ash." Brendan taunted him from across the field as his Mantine went into the air and Pikachu remained on the ground. Neither Ash nor Brendan made a move for a few moments. Brendan stood around trying o look cool as Mantine glided in the air. Ash was trying to think of a strategy to hit Mantine with an electric-type attack without it hitting the ground and fizzling out. Eventually, Ash came up with a strategy that seemed like it could work, in theory.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt again!" Ash commanded.

"Mantine, dodge it like you did before." Brendan instructed his pokemon.

"Piiika chuuuuuuuu." Pikachu shouted as it released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at the flying-type pokemon. Once again, the attack chased after Mantine around the air as it tired to dodge. Mantine quickly approached the ground and made a sharp turn to make the electricity hit the ground. But as it did, Pikachu appeared in front of Mantine, smiling.

"Use iron tail!" Ash shouted.

"Chuuu...pika!" The electric rodent shouted as its tail began glowing white and hit the kite pokemon square in the head, knocking it down to the ground.

"Awesome, Pikachu!" Ash cheered. "Now use volt tackle!"

"PikaPikaPikaPi-ka!" Ash's pokemon repeated as its body was covered in bright yellow electricity. Running on all fours Pikachu slammed into the grounded Mantine, sending the kite pokemon crashing into the other side of the field. The cameras showed the electric rodent with its arms out and electricity pulsing from its cheeks as Brendan's Mantine lay on the floor.

"Mantine, you're strong, don't give up like this!" Brendan pleaded.

"Ma…man…Mantine." The kite pokemon grunted as it began to get up off the floor. As it flapped its wings with great effort and sent a cloud of dust around the air as it took off into the air.

* * *

"Even with a serious disadvantage, Mantine isn't down yet!" Gary exclaimed.

"But the fact remains that it's struggling right about now." Brock pointed out. "Brendan's gonna have to do something fast."

"But flying-type moves aren't very effective against electric pokemon like Pikachu." Dawn said. "Water-type moves won't be much better."

"The only thing that'd work against an electric-type like Pikachu would be a ground-type move." Leaf added.

"_Good thing Brendan has one in his arsenal."_ May thought.

* * *

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

"Mantine, block it with hydro pump!" Brendan commanded.

"Piiika chuuuuuuuu." "Mantiiiiiine." The two pokemon shouted as they fired their attacks at one another. Pikachu's electric attack met with Mantine's powerful jet of water in the air and evaporated it completely while disappearing itself. The display left both pokemon at a stalemate as Mantine continued to glide above as Pikachu looked on from below.

"He's not looking, use thunder." Ash cried.

"Pikaaaaaachuuuuuuuu!" The electric rodent shouted as it unleashed its strongest attack.

"Mantine, dodge it!" Brendan told it.

Up in the air, the uncaring Mantine froze, allowing the powerful blast of electricity to hit it, severely injuring the kite pokemon. However the pokemon quickly regained consciousness and land on Pikachu, crushing it and forcing it into the ground.

"This is going great Mantine! Now use giga impact!" Brendan said, clenching his fists.

"Pikachu use thunder again." Ash said, wondering what his next move should be if he failed. _"We're at close range, this should work!"_

Mantine let out its call and quickly jumped up to deliver its impact. But Pikachu was prepared and quickly fired the blast of electricity. The attack was almost blasted apart as Mantine did a twirl in midair but was still struck by the attack and nearly collapsed. Mantine coming down quickly for giga impact as Pikachu continued its thunder attack. Both pokemon were struggling to outlast the other as Leaf and May looked on the battle from the stands with sympathy for both trainers and their pokemon, knowing that one would lose soon.

When the cloud of dust that had been created was cleared up, Mantine had fainted from the impact while Pikachu was wobbling around the ground, currently unable to stand up properly.

"Mantine!" Brendan cried.

"Mantine is no longer able to battle." Tucker declared, eliciting cheers from the crowd as the cameras focused on the defeated Mantine more than the victorious Pikachu. "The red trainer has only one pokemon left!"

"Thank you, Mantine." Brendan sadly said as he recalled his pokemon and took out another pokeball.

* * *

"Now he's only got one pokemon left." Gary stated.

"But that last one is his strongest." Dawn mentioned.

"When he wins this, I hope Ash get some support." May said.

"Brendan's the one who's gonna need support when Ash trounces him." Leaf rebuffed.

"Yeah, ten years from now." May laughed.

"You ought to be more grateful." Leaf told her. "Ash is the reason you have any skill with pokemon."

"Leaf!" Gary shouted.

* * *

"You're my last hope!" Brendan shouted as he threw his last pokeball.

"Swamp!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it came out of its pokeball.

"_This may be a problem!"_ Ash thought to himself as he saw the large blue pokemon stand across the field from him.

"The red trainer has chosen their final pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle begin!"

"Swampert, use water gun!" Brendan ordered.

"Pikachu, dodge it!"

"Swaaam!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed as it unleashed its stream of water from its mouth. The electric rodent got on all fours and ran around the stream of water until Swampert had to stop using it.

"The little guy's pretty good at evasion, Ash." Brendan commented. "But it won't be enough! Swampert, use earthquake!"

How does one dodge an earthquake? Pikachu evidently didn't know or it would've done it. Swampert jumped high into the air and landed very hard, making white shockwaves come out of the ground and head directly for the electric rodent.

"Piiiika!" Ash's Pikachu shouted in pain as it was struck by the shockwaves and sent flying back. The cameras depicted every possible angle of Pikachu's pain from the sides to the bottom and top till Pikachu landed on the ground far away from Ash. As the electric rodent tried to get up, Ash was desperate to make a plan.

"_Swampert's a ground-type so electric attacks won't work against it."_ Ash contemplated.

"Pi." The electric rodent said as it managed to get to its feet and stared down Swampert.

"Pikachu, use iron tail!" Ash commanded.

"Swampert, you know what to do." Brendan confidently said.

"Chuuuu…" The electric rodent shouted as its tail took on a white glow and it jumped up into the air. As it turned its body, preparing to strike its opponent, it was suddenly stopped! The entire audience gasped at the sight that they had seen.

Swampert had confidently grabbed Pikachu's tail and stopped its attack. Holding its tail with one hand, Swampert began chuckling at its own prowess as Pikachu dangled helplessly.

"Piiika chuuuuuuuu!" The electric rodent shouted as it unleashed its thunderbolt attack, desperate to break itself free. As a ground-type pokemon, Swampert was unaffected by the attack as it continued to hold on to Pikachu.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out.

"Swampert, toss him!" Brendan shouted.

"Swaaaam!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed as its wound its arm back and then threw Pikachu across the field with intense force. The audience watched the cameras as the electric rodent was sent flying back by the toss and landed on the other side of the field.

"Piiiika!" Ash's Pikachu shouted as it struggled to get up and fight.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out.

"Piii…ka." The electric rodent said as it gave in to the pain, fainting and giving the battle to Swampert.

"Pikachu is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Both trainers are now down to one pokemon each!"

* * *

"Pikachu lost!" Dawn exclaimed.

"It was only a matter of time till Swampert's type advantage came into it." May commented.

"And now they both have one pokemon left!" Brock realized.

"It all comes down to this." Leaf said.

* * *

The audience continued to comment within itself as Ash brought back Pikachu to his side and congratulated it for its effort. Pikachu sat down next to its trainer as he took out a pokeball containing his final pokemon.

"It's now or never!" Ash said as he threw his pokeball into the air.

The flash of light from the pokeball revealed Ash's Sceptile, the fully evolved grass-type starter from the Hoenn region. The forest pokemon stood tall as it faced the fully evolved water-type starter standing across the field from it.

* * *

"Ash's last pokemon was his Sceptile!" Dawn exclaimed.

"As a grass-type, it could mean big trouble for Brendan's Swampert." Brock stated.

"Now that both of them are down to their last pokemon, whoever wins this battle gets to go to the finals." Gary mentioned.

"Go, Brendan!" May cheered.

"Ash, you better win this!" Leaf cheered.

* * *

The crowd continued to cheer and comment until Tucker decided to start the match. "The green trainer has chosen their final pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the final battle of this match, BEGIN!"

"Swampert, water gun!" Brendan commanded.

"Sceptile, bullet seed!" Ash ordered.

"Swaaam." "Sceptile!" The two pokemon said as they attacked one another. The stream of water coming from Swampert's mouth met with the small orange seeds coming from Sceptile's mouth and continued bashing into each other as the two pokemon seemingly refused to give up. As their attacks continued to collide, Sceptile began tiring from firing the consistent bullet seed, something Ash took notice of.

"Sceptile, jump up in the air!" Ash shouted.

"Tile!" The forest pokemon shouted as it ceased firing its bullet seed attack and jumped high in the air. Sceptile was an excellent jumper and managed to jump right over Swampert's continuing water gun attack.

"Hit it in the air!" Brendan shouted.

"Swaaam!" The mud fight pokemon said as it turned its head to the air where Sceptile was, firing its water gun as it did.

"Sceptile, go down with leaf blade!" Ash told it.

"Sceppptile!" The forest pokemon said as the blades on its arms began to glow light green. Swampert's water gun was heading directly for the airborne grass-type as it began coming down to the field like a rocket returning from space. Using its leaf blade, Sceptile cut the water gun attack as gravity took it down to Swampert.

"Swampert, look out!" Brendan shouted.

Though it ended its water gun attack, Swampert failed to get out of the path of the incoming Sceptile and was struck by its leaf blade. The mud fish pokemon took the attack at full force and wobbled backwards as Sceptile landed on the ground.

"Use pound!" Ash shouted.

"Dodge it!" Brendan instructed.

The forest pokemon quickly approached its opponent and swung its body around to hit it with its bush-like tail. But the mud fish pokemon narrowly managed to dodge the attack after wobbling around.

"Use solarbeam, fast!" Ash shouted.

"Sceeeep." The forest pokemon said as it began charging the energy in its tail to use for the attack.

"Nice try, but it's not gonna work, Ash!" Brendan taunted. "Swampert, use hydro cannon!"

"Swaaamperrrrrrt!" the mud fish pokemon shouted as it unleashed the ultimate water-type attack at its opponent.

"Sceptiiiiile!" Ash's fully evolved grass-type pokemon shouted as it unleashed its own attack. The white beam of energy came out of Sceptile's mouth as the seeds on its back stopped glowing. The two powerful attacks met in the middle of the distance between the two opponents and began pushing themselves into one another.

The force of collision between Sceptile's solarbeam and Swampert's hydro cannon was intense. The cameras focused more on the attacks than the pokemon themselves while the audience was amazed at the display of power.

* * *

"I can't believe how strong those two are." Dawn exclaimed.

"Both of them seem to be pretty even so far, it's anyone's game." Brock stated.

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Gary added as he looked over at the two girls sitting with them, comically clawing at one another over their boyfriends.

* * *

"Sceptile, keep going!"

"Swampert, don't give up!"

The two pokemon continued their battle as their attacks kept going and they refused to give up. Though it initially looked even, Swampert soon showed signs of giving in from the strain of continuing its ultimate attack. Soon after, Swampert ceased its attack and took the force of the solarbeam to it chest, sending it flying back and landing on its stomach.

"Swampert!" Brendan cried out.

"Swa…swam." The mud fish pokemon grunted as it began doing a pushup to get itself off the ground. When it finally did, it stood tall and proud as a strange blue water-like aura began to envelop it. Ash, Brendan and the entire audience quickly realized what was going on: Swampert had activated its special ability, torrent. The mud fish pokemon began smirking and pounding its chest while staring in Sceptile's direction, enraging the forest pokemon.

"Alright Swampert, now we can't lose!" Brendan cheered.

"Swam!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed as its blue aura began to glow brighter, giving it great strength and the confidence to beat Sceptile.

"_This may be a problem."_ Ash thought.

"Get ready for the real battle to begin, Ash." Brendan told him. "Swampert, use water gun!"

"Swaaam!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it unleashed a spiral of water from its mouth at its opponent.

"Sceptile, dodge it." Ash instructed.

"Tile!" The forest pokemon said as it jumped into the air above. The water gun missed Ash's pokemon by a significant margin as it used its legs to jump high into the air. While in the air, the leaves on Sceptile's arm began glowing green as the forest pokemon raised them forward and allowed gravity to take it down to Swampert.

"Sceptile, no!" Ash uselessly pleaded from below as the forest pokemon prepared to strike Swampert with leaf blade.

"Sceptile!" The forest pokemon shouted as it came down from above.

"Swamp!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed as its opponent came down on it. The blue aura of its torrent ability continued to surround Swampert and Brendan's pokemon confidently stood its ground.

"Swampert, use ice beam!" Brendan ordered.

"Ice beam?" Ash exclaimed from across the field.

"Swaaamp!" The mud fish pokemon boomed as a small blue ball appeared in front of its mouth and immediately broke off into several different beams of energy. While in the air, Sceptile was hit by the beams and immediately incased in a block of ice. From several feet above, the block of ice encasing Ash's pokemon fell to the ground and broke on contact as the forest pokemon fell to the ground in pain.

* * *

"Why the hell did Sceptile try something that stupid?" Gary furiously asked.

"I say it was a matter of pride?" Leaf believed.

"Pride?" Dawn wondered.

"Swampert's ability made it confident about winning; Sceptile got angry at its attitude and decided to take matters into its own hands." Leaf revealed.

"Still, I've never known Sceptile to disobey Ash like that." Brock added.

* * *

As Sceptile lied on the field, injured, Swampert towered above it and began pounding its chest again.

"Swampert, use earthquake!" Brendan ordered.

"Swamp…ert!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it jumped into the air and landed once again, sending out shockwaves from the ground. The still injured forest pokemon was hit by the shockwaves as it lay on the ground and was sent reeling back.

"Scept!" The forest pokemon shouted in pain.

"Sceptile, you have to get up!" Ash cried.

"Swampert, hydro cannon!" Brendan shouted.

"Swaaamperrrrrrt!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it fired the ultimate water-type attack from its mouth at its opponent. The powerful burst stream of water directly hit the forest pokemon and sent it flying back. The forest pokemon eventually lay there on the floor, struggling to get up and appeared to be close to fainting. The entire audience watched in silence at the scene.

"_It can't end like this!"_ Ash thought to himself.

* * *

(Olivine City Lighthouse)

(Previous Day)

* * *

"_Leaf…" Ash started. "At this point either you, me, Brendan or Gary will end up being the winner."_

_"You're right." Leaf said. "At this point, audiences get crazier and we all get more tense."_

_"I guess we just deal with it as it comes." Ash suggested._

_"Ash, I wanna tell you something."_

_"…Yes?"_

_"I want you to meet me…" Leaf started. "Meet me in the finals."_

…

_"I…I'll see you there, Leaf." Ash told her. _

_

* * *

_

(Present Day)

* * *

"_I made a promise."_ Ash told himself. _"I can't lose!"_

"Scep…scept." The forest pokemon grunted as it tried to get off the ground. Its trainer looked on as its opponent continued smirking at what seemed like its assured victory as well.

"Sceptile…if you can get up here…this is where I need you." Ash started before clenching his fists. "WE CAN'T LOSE!"

"Scept!" The forest pokemon said sharply as its eye opened widely at its trainer's words. Now encouraged by his fierce determination, Ash's Sceptile finally managed to stand up after taking so much punishment.

* * *

"He's gotten back up!" Gary exclaimed.

"This fight's not over yet, not by a long shot." Dawn proclaimed.

"_I guess Ash is better with his pokemon than I thought."_ Leaf told herself.

* * *

The audience began cheering wildly at the reemerging Sceptile. The referee, Dome Ace Tucker, began smiling at the perseverance of Ash's pokemon having remembered his battle against him in the Battle Dome during Ash's Battle Frontier challenge.

"_He's impressive."_ Brendan admitted to himself.

"Swamp." The mud fish pokemon said as it looked at its opponent from across the field, knowing that the fight wasn't over.

"Sceptile, can you still fight?" Ash asked.

"Sceptile!" The forest pokemon said as it raised its arms into the air. All of a sudden, a strange green aura began to surround Sceptile as it felt itself get reinvigorated. Ash began to smile as he realized what was going on. As Swampert's torrent ability had activated earlier on, Sceptile's overgrow ability had been activated.

"Sceptile, that's great!" Ash cheered. "We've gotta end this now."

"Well feel free to forfeit!" Brendan joked from across the field.

"Not happening!" Ash told him. "Sceptile, use leaf blade."

"Scept!" The forest pokemon said as it immediately took off to attack. The leaves on its arms began to glow green as it approached its opponent with increased speed.

"Swampert, use ice beam!" Brendan ordered.

"Swaaamp!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth and broke off into several smaller beams and aimed them at the incoming Sceptile. But this time, the forest pokemon used its excellent agility to dodge them with little effort and jump two feet in the air, effectively cutting down Swampert with its leaf blade and landing on its feet.

"Swampert!" Brendan cried as he saw his pokemon get cut down by its opponent, injuring it further.

"_Dang, this is bad."_ Brendan worried.

With the mud fish pokemon and the forest pokemon now within close range of one another, Ash took the opportunity to attack.

"Sceptile, use leaf storm!" He shouted.

"Sceeeptiiile!" The forest pokemon shouted as the seeds on its back started to glow light green and it released a cyclone of wind and glowing light green leaves from the seeds towards the injured Swampert. The leaves struck with extreme precision thanks to Sceptile's practicing of the move and significantly injured the mud fish pokemon as Sceptile stood up, raising its arms.

"Get ready to fire solar beam!" Ash shouted.

"Scept!" The forest pokemon said as it began to gather sunlight in its tail.

The mud fish pokemon was now in the same trouble Sceptile had previously been in. With its torrent ability now seemingly dwarfed by Sceptile's activation of overgrow; it looked bleak for the fully evolved water-type starter from Hoenn until it stood up for one last try.

"Swampert, this is the last chance we have!" Brendan told it. "Use hydro cannon!"

"Swam…Swaaamperrrt!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it unleashed its ultimate-water type attack at its opponent, hoping that it would be enough.

"Scep…tiiiile!" The forest pokemon shouted when its attack was finally ready. It then fired a white beam from its mouth which collided with Swampert's hydro cannon. The force of the two attacks met in the middle just like before. But now, with the added power of Swampert's torrent and Sceptile's overgrow, the intensity was much more that the previous collision.

The flashes of light made the cameras nearly ineffective at capturing the scenes of the battle as the audience couldn't watch the screens to see different angles of the battle. As the two attacks continued to collide, the audience stayed surprisingly quiet in its suspense while Tucker stared at the spectacle, very impressed with what he was seeing. Ash and Brendan watched intently.

* * *

"Ash!" Leaf shouted

* * *

Soon, the two pokemon began to walk closer to one another, still firing the attacks from their mouths. Inch by inch, the pokemon got closer to one another as they continued to try and take each other down. When the two of them were barely more than a few feet away from one another, Swampert began giving in to its opponent. Soon dropping to its knees while still firing its attack, which simply hit the ground, Swampert became an easy target for Sceptile's solar beam. Taking the attack at close range, Swampert was knocked back to the other side of the field. Landing on its stomach, Swampert did not move an inch as its trainer realized that he'd lost.

"Swampert, no!" Brendan cried out as he ran to his fainted pokemon as Tucker took his microphone.

"Swampert is unable to battle, Sceptile is the winner!" Tucker declared.

The entire audience began cheering hysterically at the announcement. Loud applauses and cheers were head from every corner above the field. The cameras all began focusing on Ash and Sceptile's enthusiasm at their victory while completely snubbing the defeated Brendan and his Swampert. Ash began waving his hands in the air while Sceptile stayed completely still, crossing its arms. Brendan immediately recalled Swampert into its pokeball and approached Ash.

* * *

_"He won."_ Leaf thought to herself, almost in disbelief.

* * *

"Brendan…" Ash said to the approaching trainer.

"Congratulations, Ash." Brendan said as he arrived. "The better trainer won today."

"Well…he sure didn't have it easy." Ash joked as he put his hand out.

"No, I don't think he did." Brendan laughed as he shook his hand. "The finals will be even harder, don't go easy."

"I won't." Ash said as both of them firmly shook hands and stood side by side to face the audience. Eliciting more cheers, the two trainers approached Tucker to get further details. Once the acting referee put up his hand, the audience stayed quiet.

"The winner, Ash, will be the one who proceeds to the finals while Brendan will proceed to the third-place battle!" Tucker revealed.

"There was nothing in the rulebook about a third-place battle." Brendan stated.

"It was a recent change to the format." Tucker explained. "I only became aware of it myself recently."

"Fair enough." Ash admitted.

"And now…" Tucker started. "Will the other two semi-finalists please make their way to the preparation rooms?"

* * *

"I still can't believe how intense that was!" Dawn exclaimed.

"That was one of the best battles I've ever seen Ash fight." Leaf said.

"I can't believe how great those two are at doing what they love!" Brock comically said, crying man tears at the scene.

"Leaf." Gary spoke up. "We have to go."

"Yeah…you're right." Leaf submitted. She'd admittedly wanted to congratulate Ash on his victory but if she didn't go soon, she'd probably be disqualified. She and her opponent, Gary Oak, both exited the stands and made their way to the preparation rooms.

* * *

Soon after, Ash and Brendan made their way back to the stands where their friends were. May had been silent since Brendan lost the battle and hadn't said a word. The two boys were congratulated on their efforts by Dawn and Brock while Brendan sat next to his silent girlfriend and looked at her. But she never looked back. Ash was told that Leaf and Gary had already left for their battle. Though Ash couldn't talk to his girlfriend about his victory, he knew that she was happy for him and he'd be for her if she won and was able to battle him after.

"Now it's Gary and Leaf who're gonna have to battle each other!" Dawn stated. "Who do you think is gonna win?"

"Well both of them are skilled at battling but since Gary's been a researcher for a while, he may be a little rusty." Brock suggested.

"_Leaf."_ Ash thought as he took a seat. _"I'll be in the finals, will you meet me there?"_

_

* * *

_

Rayquaza45_: _So what did you think? Was that not the most epic battle to date? Well the future battles will be even more impressive so remember to review the story if you want them to come faster. I just hope you guys don't think May was too out of character, even if come people will do anything for love.

Remember to review now, then the next chapter arrives!

Next time: **Chapter 15: Battling your OldRival**

Gary Oak takes on Leaf Green to get to the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament. Will he prevail against his very first rival or will Ash's new girlfriend be too much for him? Their childhood together, only about the two of them, will be revealed. Stay with me.

Till next time!


	15. Battling Your OldRival

Rayquaza45: Hello again, readers. The end of the semi finals has come and, with it, the revelations of Gary and Leaf's interactions when they were kids. Please remember to review at the end of the story, I hardly get any these days and it makes me go into a state of depression :(

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Battling Your OldRival**

"Will the green trainer please approach the field?" The referee, Dome Ace Tucker, called out.

On the call, Leaf Green walked out of the green trainer's preparation room and took the field. The audience cheered wildly at her arrival and, for males, her looks. Slated to battle her old friend from Pallet Town, Gary Oak, she did her best to maintain her confidence and keep her promise to meet her boyfriend, yes boyfriend, Ash Ketchum, in the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament.

"And now, will the red trainer please approach the field?" Tucker called out once again.

Immediately, Gary Oak walked out of the red trainer's preparation room and took the field. The audience, specifically the females, began cheering wildly at his arrival just as had happened to Leaf. The brown haired trainer-turned-researcher began smiling at the prospect of battling the first person he'd ever considered a rival in his life before becoming a pokemon trainer.

"Leaf, Gary are you both ready for battle?" Tucker asked from his stand.

"Yes."

"Sure."

"Very well then." Tucker started. "Both trainers are to release their pokemon at the same time."

"Go for it!" Leaf shouted as she threw her pokeball into the air.

"Time to fight!" Gary shouted as he threw his own pokeball.

On Leaf's side came a pokemon she hadn't yet used in the tournament. On her side came a Froslass, the female evolution of the pokemon known as Snorunt. On Gary's side of the field came his Scizor, the pokemon he didn't get a chance to use in his top 8 battle against May.

"Fro." "Sci!" The two pokemon said as they exited their pokeballs.

"Leaf!" Ash got up from his seat in the stands. "Win this one!"

The rest of the gang stayed neutral for the battle, except for Dawn that is.

"Gary!" She cheered. "Don't you lose this battle!"

"Both trainers have chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the second semifinal match of the Battle Spirits Tournament BEGIN!"

"Froslass, use ice beam!" Leaf shouted.

"Scizor, get in the air to dodge it." Gary told his pokemon.

"Frosss!" The snow land pokemon said as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth and broke off into several different beams of energy and headed for Gary's Scizor.

"Sciz!" The scissors pokemon said as the small white wings on its back started fluttering. Scizor took to the air immediately and was able to make several sharp turns to dodge Froslass's ice beam. The snow land pokemon grunted at its failure as Scizor returned to the ground and began taunting it.

"Sci Sci!" The scissors pokemon taunted as it waved its arms from inwards and outwards from left to right, similar to a person doing a dance. The audience laughed at the display while both Leaf and Froslass were significantly upset and disturbed by it.

"_I've never seen him do that before."_ Gary thought to himself. Even he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Froslass, use attract!" Leaf shouted as Scizor continued to dance.

"Frooooos!" The snow land pokemon calmly said as a white heart was formed in front of its body. The white heart hit the scissors pokemon in the chest, causing it to blush furiously and turn away from its opponent.

"Scizor, get back in there!" Gary pleaded.

* * *

"Scizor's been immobilized…by love!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Sounds like someone else we know." Ash said, turning to the future pokemon breeder.

"Hm?" Brock asked.

"Not quite, he gets immobilized _after_ love." Dawn pointed out.

* * *

"Now use ice beam!" Leaf commanded.

"Frosss!" The snow land pokemon said as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth and broke off into several different beams of energy and headed for Gary's Scizor. The still immobilized Scizor made absolutely no attempt to dodge the incoming attack and was frozen over by it. Now with his pokemon encased in a block of ice, Gary Oak could only watch helplessly at his opponent's next move.

"Now it's time, use thunderbolt!" Leaf commanded.

"Frosss…lass!" The snow land pokemon shouted as its arms began to spark with yellow electricity and it then released a beam of yellow electricity from its arms at the immobilized opponent.

"Scizor!" The scissors pokemon shouted in pain as the thunderbolt blasted through the ice encasing it, freeing it from its icy prison but injuring it heavily at the same time. As it stumbled around the field in pain, its trainer came up with a plan.

"Scizor, get in the air and come down with quick attack!" Gary told it.

"Sciz!" The scissors pokemon said as it finally stopped stumbling around the field and its small white wings finally began to flutter and allowed it to take to the air. Scizor came down almost immediately, easily hitting Froslass with its left pincer as it had simply been looking on at the flying pokemon. But given Froslass's ghost type, it took no damage from the attack.

"_Darn, the attract wore off already!"_ Leaf reasoned.

"Scizor, quickly, use steel wing!" Gary ordered.

"Sciiiizor!" The scissors pokemon screeched as it used the speed from its quick attack to improve its speed on its next attack. Its wings began to glow white as it flew down, turned its body in a 180 degree angle and hit Froslass in the head with it, causing it to stumble.

"Froslass, get your head it in!" Leaf advised. "Use thunderbolt again!"

"Frosss…lass!" The snow land pokemon shouted as its arms began to spark with yellow electricity once again and it then released a beam of yellow Electricity from its arms at the incoming Scizor.

"Scizor, come down on Froslass with metal claw!" Gary shouted.

"Sciz…or!" The scissors pokemon said as its pincers became surrounded in a silver aura. The thunderbolt send up by Froslass was blocked by Scizor's pincers and prevented them from doing any damage as Scizor came down. When Scizor finally reached the snow land pokemon, it brought its claws forward and slammed them together in front of it, creating a large gray energy ball that shot a bolt of lightning at it. The bolt hit Froslass directly in the chest as Scizor looked on.

"Fross!" The snow land pokemon wreathed in pain as it was pushed across the field.

"Scizor, use another steel wing!" Gary shouted.

"Sciiiizor!" The scissors pokemon screeched as its wings began to glow white. It began flying towards the snow land pokemon at top speed with its arms out wide, ready to fight.

"Frosslass, use ice beam!" Leaf shouted.

"Frosss!" The snow land pokemon said as a blue ball in front of its mouth formed and just as quickly broke into several smaller beams of energy. The beams made their way to the incoming scissors pokemon.

"Scizor, dodge!" Gary ordered.

The scissors pokemon attempted to dodge the snow land pokemon's ice beam attack by turning on its side to be upside down and getting under it. But it failed to get low enough while it was upside down and was frozen over by the attack. The block of ice encasing it immediately hit the ground below and shattered, leaving the scissors pokemon to stare up at the ceiling as the audience looked on at the cameras, wondering why it wasn't moving.

"Scizor, get up!" Gary shouted.

"Quickly, use thunderbolt!" Leaf commanded.

"Frosss…lass!" The snow land pokemon shouted as its arms began to spark with yellow electricity for what was hopefully the last time and it then released a beam of yellow Electricity from its arms at the grounded Scizor. The attack hit the scissors pokemon directly, creating a dent in the field and knocking out the red trainer's first pokemon.

"Scizor!" Gary shouted.

"Scizor is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokemon!"

* * *

"Scizor had the advantage!" Dawn exclaimed. "What's with that?"

"Dawn, come on, types aren't everything" Brock reasoned.

"PikaPi?" The electric rodent asked its trainer as he stared off into the distance.

"Yeah…Pikachu…really." Ash said without thinking straight as he watched Gary recall his Scizor. He was trying his best to keep his glee to himself about Leaf's first victory over Gary, even if it was just one round. Considering what used to happen in Pallet Town, it was nice to see her win.

* * *

(Pallet Town, Kanto Region)

(Seven Years Ago)

* * *

"Checkmate!" A young boy with brown hair exclaimed as he moved his rook into the optimum position.

"What!" A young girl across from him on the board said questioned as she looked around the board, wondering if he made a mistake.

"Nothing, you lose Leaf." He said confidently. "But it only took me seventeen moves this time; it only took five last time."

"I'm gonna beat you one day, Gary." Leaf told him.

"You tell 'em!" A young boy with black hair cheered from across the room.

"Stay out of it Ash!" Gary told him. "I beat you in just four moves every single time!"

"When I'm a pokemon master, you'll never beat me!" The young boy named Ash proclaimed. "I'll be the best trainer ever!"

"You'll be the worst trainer ever, I say." Gary taunted him.

"What was that?" Ash shouted. He was just about ready to get out of his chair and wrestle with Gary for saying such things.

"It'll take you years to even come close to me." He believed. "You'll nev-"

"Come on, boys." Leaf said, interrupting their argument. "We have to turn ten before we can become pokemon trainers."

"…She's right." Gary admitted. "When we're ten, then I'm gonna beat you."

"Don't count on it!" Ash exclaimed.

* * *

(Olivine City, Johto Region)

(Present Day)

* * *

"Go for it!" Gary shouted as he threw a pokeball into the air.

"Arc!" The light from the pokeball turned into a canine-like pokemon colored orange, white, black, red and cream. The pokemon known as Arcanine, typed 'legendary' in a possible mistake, took the field and stared down its ice and ghost-type opponent. The audience cheered for the new entry as it stood tall and proud, gathering great attention.

"Ready?" Gary asked.

"Of course we are." Leaf said.

"The red trainer has chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"

"Froslass, use ice beam!" Leaf commanded.

"Arcanine, flame thrower!" Gary shouted.

"Frosss!" "Arrrrc!" The two pokemon shouted at one another as their two attacks collided with one another. The blue ice beam and the reddish-orange flamethrower met in the distance between the two pokemon and began to push one another around. Due to the disadvantage of ice-types to fire-types, the flamethrower soon managed to get the upper hand and burn through the ice beam, hitting Froslass directly in the face.

"Frossssss!" The snow land pokemon shouted in pain as the fire burned its face. Having already taken damage from Scizor's steel-type moves, the flamethrower proved to be a difficult attack for Froslass to cope with as it was burned.

"Froslass!" Leaf cried.

"Arcanine, use fire spin, now!" Gary commanded.

"Arrca…nine!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it opened its mouth and a flame was released at the snow land pokemon from it. When the flame reached its opponent, it curled around it in a tornado. The fire prevented Froslass from going anywhere since it would likely get a bad burn if it tried and it was forced to stay where it was and find a way out from there.

"Use thunderbolt to try and break out!" Leaf told it.

"Frosss…lass!" The snow land pokemon said as yellow electricity charged up in its arms and was then shot out at the barrier of fire surrounding it. The yellow electricity collided with the red fire and created a dust combustion. Black smoke filled the surrounding area and the cameras couldn't show what was going on. Underneath the cloud, Arcanine stared furiously into one particular area while Froslass looked around, unable to see anything and unwilling to go anywhere out of fear of being found.

"Arcanine!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it came through the cloud of dust. Using its speed and keen eyesight, it managed to find Froslass wandering around the cloud. As the cloud of dust began to clear, Arcanine took aim at its opponent who had not yet noticed its presence. Arcanine opened its mouth wide and released a stream of flames from it, taking the snow land pokemon completely by surprise and causing a great deal of damage.

"Froooos!" The snow land pokemon shouted from the pain of the flamethrower as the cloud of dust finally dissipated, allowing Leaf, Gary and the entire audience to see Froslass being pushed to the brink.

"Froslass!" Leaf cried out as she saw her pokemon sustain serious injury from the legendary pokemon's attack. "Get out!"

"Arcanine, keep going!" Gary commanded.

"Arrrrr!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it continued to hit its opponent with its flamethrower. Showing no signs of relenting till it could breathe no longer, the flames intensified momentarily and hurt the opponent for all the worse. Eventually, Arcanine was forced to stop attacking which allowed Froslass to finally faint after enduring so much pain.

"Froslass!" Leaf cried out.

"Froslass is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon!"

* * *

"I can't believe how easily Arcanine won." Brock admitted.

"Now they're tied at two pokemon each." Brendan said.

"_Come on, Leaf."_ Ash thought to himself as he saw Leaf recall and thank her fallen pokemon.

* * *

"Go for it!" Leaf shouted as she threw a pokeball into the air.

The light from the pokemon turned into a long and beautiful serpentine-like creature. Its body was mostly white with red antennae and a red and blue tail. The tender pokemon known as Milotic amazed the crowd with its beauty, eliciting wild cheers and looks of jealousy from various other trainers in the audience.

* * *

"_Fitting that a beautiful trainer should have a beautiful pokemon."_ Ash thought to himself.

"Oh wow, Milotic is so beautiful!" Dawn said in amazement.

"Now that Leaf has the advantage, Gary's gonna be hard pressed." Brendan stated.

* * *

"The green trainer has chosen their pokemon." Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"

"Arcanine, use take down." Gary ordered.

"Milotic wait for it!" Leaf said.

The tender pokemon coiled itself up in snake-like fashion as the legendary pokemon approached it. Gary's Arcanine ran on all fours at an extremely fast pace, making many zigzags along the way despite not being attacked. Milotic's large red eyes enabled it to track Arcanine's movements with relative ease despite the latter's speed. As it approached, Leaf began her plan.

"Miltotic, use ice beam on the field!" She commanded.

"Miiiii!" The tender pokemon whaled as it fired several blue beams from its mouth at the field, covering it in a layer of ice and causing the legendary pokemon to slip up its movements, its four legs losing balance on the ice and sliding around on it.

"Use hydro pump, now!" Leaf shouted.

"Milo…tic!" The tender pokemon shouted as it inhaled its breath and then unleashed a powerful jet of water from its mouth. The jet directly hit the opponent who was still sliding around on the frozen ice and sent it splashing back to the other side.

"Awesome!" Leaf cheered as she looked at her pokemon and at the field, which now had lost some of the ice from the freeze.

"_That was impressive."_ Gary admitted to himself. _"But I guess I don't have to be surprised."_

* * *

(Pallet Town, Kanto Region)

(Five Years Ago)

* * *

"I can't believe it!" A young Gary Oak stated in disbelief as he looked at his defeated Bulbasaur.

"Believe it!" A young Ash Ketchum told him from across the room, having witnessed the battle.

"Better luck next time." His opponent, a young Leaf Green told him as she knelt down, petting a Squirtle on the head who happily received it.

"But I had the advantage." Gary whined. "What did I do wrong?"

"You spent way too much time showing off, Gary." Leaf told him. "You should've worked with your pokemon more."

"Leaf totally owned you!" Ash joked. "You need to work harder!"

"It was his first ever battle, Ash." Leaf scolded the raven haired trainer. "You wouldn't have done any better, even with two pokemon."

"You could have six pokemon, and you couldn't beat one of us Ashy." Gary taunted.

"Don't call me Ashy!" Ash shouted.

Just then, Professor Samuel Oak walked through the front door. The three nine year olds quickly put on their best faces and greeted him.

"Hello there, you three." He said. "How did your battles with the new starter pokemon go?"

"Leaf won, Gary lost!" Ash revealed, greatly irritating Gary.

"Oh is that right?" The professor joked as he looked at the defeated Bulbasaur next to Gary and the smiling Squirtle next to Leaf. "Well then, these pokemon are surely ready for their new trainers."

"When are they coming, Professor?" Leaf asked.

"Well now, I believe it's tomorrow." He answered. "And next year when the three of you are able to become pokemon trainers, I'll be waiting."

"Well I'm gonna get here first and get the best pokemon ever!" Ash proclaimed with his hand in the air.

Later that day under the night sky outside the Professor's lab, Leaf and Gary sat next to one another discussing their futures now that Ash had gone back home.

"I still can't believe you beat me." Gary told Leaf. "After all that research, I lost."

"What can I say; maybe I'm just a natural." She giggled.

"_I lost the first pokemon battle of my life!"_ Gary realized. _"Well I will never again lose to my rival!"_

* * *

(Olivine City, Johto Region)

(Present Day)

* * *

"Arcanine, use fire spin!" Gary commanded.

"Milotic, water gun!" Leaf told it.

"Arrca…nine!" "Milooo!" The two pokemon roared as Arcanine's flames created a flame barrier around Milotic similar to the one on Froslass. Milotic quickly used its water gun attack to douse the flame barrier, converting the fire into steam relatively quickly and freeing itself, now able to concentrate on Arcanine.

"Darn." Gary silently cursed.

"Alright now Milotic, use hydro pump on Arcanine!" Leaf told her pokemon.

"Milo…tic!" The tender pokemon shouted as it inhaled its breath and then unleashed a jet stream of water at its opponent.

"Arcanine, use extremespeed to dodge it!" Gary commanded.

"Arca!" The legendary pokemon shouted as it began running. It moved so fast that the top half of its body remained visible while the lower half became blurred to the naked eye. Even Milotic's large eyes had trouble keeping up with its movements. The legendary pokemon managed to narrowly avoid being hit by Milotic's hydro pump attack and soon managed to get closer.

"Use take down!" Gary shouted.

"Arc!" Gary's pokemon shouted as it smashed its entire body into the tender pokemon, knocking it down as everyone watched.

"Milotic, come on, you can give up like that!" Leaf pleaded.

"Mi!" The tender pokemon said as it coiled itself up and quickly got up once again. It began to sway its head back and forth and to the left and right, relaxing all the viewers in the audience as they watched it on the cameras which were around the field.

"Alright now, time to use water gun!" Leaf told it.

"Arcanine, you use flame thrower, fast!" Gary told it.

"Milooo!" "Arrrrc!" They both shouted as they unleashed their attacks. Milotic's stream of water clashed with Arcanine's fire breath and created a cloud of dust. Unlike last time, Arcanine couldn't go through it to attack its opponent since two things had changed. Milotic was able to track Arcanine and, unlike Froslass, had the advantage in type. One mistake and Arcanine would bite the dust, in more than one way. Eventually the cloud cleared up and allowed everyone to see what was going on, the two pokemon stared down one another.

"Milotic, use hydro pump!" Leaf ordered.

"Arcanine, dodge it, fast!" Gary told it.

Milotic immediately launched a jet of water at the legendary pokemon as it started running around the field. The water followed Arcanine wherever it went, leaving a wet trail as it did. Arcanine used its excellent agility to jump over, around and get under the powerful water attack many times over, preventing Milotic from effectively hurting it.

"Milotic, end it." Leaf said.

"Mi." The tender pokemon said as it stopped attacking Arcanine. The legendary pokemon immediately turned around to face Milotic as its trainer looked more confident than ever.

"Alright then Arcanine, use extremespeed!" Gary told it.

"Arca!" The legendary pokemon said as its feet became a blur and it began to run around. It quickly approached Milotic as Leaf expected it would and leapt into the air.

"Hydro pump!" Leaf shouted.

"Milo…tic!" The tender pokemon whaled as it unleashed a jet of water at the legendary pokemon who was still heading towards it in the air. The powerful attack hit Arcanine directly in the stomach and pushed it back. Its fours legs were high in the air as its head was down when it finally came into contact with the ground.

"Arcanine, run away!" Gary pointlessly shouted at the unable to move Arcanine. The best it could do was wiggle around in place.

"Milotic, water gun!" Leaf commanded.

"Milooo!" The tender pokemon shouted as it released a spiral of water from its mouth at the grounded legendary pokemon. The attack hit directly since Arcanine couldn't move away, sending the legendary pokemon across the field, dragging the ground beneath it as it went.

"Ar…ar…arc." The legendary pokemon said after a few moments of struggling to get up. It had already taken several direct hits and had failed to inflict any degree of damage to Milotic, but was still not ready to give up.

"If you can, use fire blast!" Gary shouted.

"Arrrrrcaniiiiine!" The legendary pokemon shouted as its pupils began to glow orange and its whole body became surrounded in a fiery aura. It then, struggling to do so, managed to fire five blasts of fire from its body. When seen above by the audience, the blast looked like a man. The man-shaped blast of fire headed towards the tender pokemon, marking the field behind it.

"_No sweat."_ Leaf joyfully thought before giving her orders. "Milotic, blast through it with water gun!"

"_She's not gonna be able to do that." _Gary thought as he saw Milotic pull its head back.

"Milooo!" The tender pokemon said as it swayed its head forwards and unleashed a spiral of water from it. The attack met with the fire blast in the middle of the field and started pushing it away from Milotic. Steam arose from the collision and headed into the air.

"Keep going, Milotic!" Leaf cheered.

"Miii!" Leaf's pokemon shouted as it continued to fire its water gun. Eventually, much to everyone's surprise, it managed to evaporate the fire blast attack and go on through. Its power had been greatly weakened from the collision and only splashed Arcanine briefly before it fizzled out.

"Arcanine, flame thrower!" Gary shouted.

"Use hydro pump!" Leaf commanded.

"Arrrrrc!" "Milo…tic!" Both pokemon shouted as their attacks collided. With little effort, the tender pokemon managed to overpower the flamethrower of the tired legendary pokemon and pushed it back further and further. Eventually, Milotic's hydro pump overcame the flamethrower and hit Gary's Arcanine in the face and pushed it to the ground, knocking it out.

"Arcanine, no!" Gary shouted for the fallen legendary pokemon.

"Arcanine is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Red trainer, choose your final pokemon!"

* * *

"Now Gary's down to his last pokemon!" Dawn cried out from the stands.

"So against a water-type…an electric-type or a grass-type would be best." Ash said.

"_Wouldn't you know?"_ Brendan thought to himself as he looked at his silent girlfriend. _"Come on, May. Come back to us."_

"Since Leaf still has two pokemon left, Gary's gonna be in a tighter spot than ever." Brock stated.

"Well if he's strong enough, he'll win." Dawn said. "And he'll battle Ash in the finals."

"_Leaf, remember our promise."_ Ash thought to himself as he saw Gary recall his Arcanine. _"Meet in the finals."_

* * *

(Indigo Plateau, Kanto Region)

(Three and a half Years Ago)

* * *

"Leaf!" The Top 32 participant, Gary Oak, called out as he saw someone he thought he recognized.

"Who's there?" A girl with dark brown hair asked as she turned around and noticed him.

"Don't you remember me?" Gary asked.

"Of course I do." She laughed. She was wearing white gloves, black shoes and a black dress that went down to her knees.

"What've you been doing here?" He asked as he got closer to her.

"Competing." She said bluntly. "But not very well."

"What're you talking about?" He asked.

"I just got knocked out." She revealed. "It really sucks."

"How far did you get?"

"Top 32."

"Seriously?" He was amazed. "That's how far I got!"

"You don't say." Leaf shrugged. "Well you know your old _friend_ is entering the Top 16."

"Sure but now that I'm out; I have no reason to stay here anymore." He explained as he turned around. "And my old _rival_ is out too."

* * *

(Olivine City, Johto Region)

(Present Day)

* * *

"_She stayed to watch Ash lose in the next round and he didn't even know it."_ Gary thought to himself as he held to pokeball containing his final pokemon. _"…But that was then and this is now!"_

"Red trainer, release your final pokemon or you will face disqualification!" Tucker warned him.

"Wah!" Gary shouted as he snapped out of his trance, nearly dropping his pokeball in the process. The audience laughed hysterically at his display, even his friends in the audience couldn't help but chuckle at it.

"Yeah!" Gary shouted as he threw his pokeball. "Let's end it!"

"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it exited Gary's pokeball and flexed its arms, garnering the crowd's cheers.

"An electric-type." Leaf muttered. "I can deal with that."

"The red trainer has chosen their final pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"

"Milotic, use water gun!" Leaf shouted.

"Milooo!" The tender pokemon screeched as it shot a spiral of water out of its mouth at the thunderbolt pokemon.

"Electivire, use iron tail!" Gary ordered.

"Elect!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as its two tails began to glow white. It quickly jumped into the air as it saw the water gun attack coming. It quickly spun around and hit the spiral of water with its iron tail attack, splashing water around and eliminating the attack.

* * *

"Did you see that?" Brock exclaimed. "Gary's Electivire completely nullified Milotic's water gun."

"And with the type disadvantage, Leaf's gonna have to work out a foolproof plan to win the match." Brendan added.

"Let's see how she handles it." Ash suggested.

* * *

"Electivire, use thunderpunch!" Gary ordered.

"Electi!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it began running towards its opponent and its right fist took on a yellow spark. Electivire quickly jumped up into the air and looked down on Milotic as it pulled its arm back, ready to strike.

"It's time to use toxic!" Leaf shouted.

"Milot!" The tender pokemon screeched as it exhaled a strange purple gas from its mouth. The gas filled the surrounding area near Milotic and prevented Electivire from attacking since the gas was too thick to see through. Eventually, the gas dissipated just after Electivire accidentally inhaled some of it.

"Get out of there!" Gary shouted as he saw his pokemon frantically cover its mouth. Obeying his order, Electivire used its strong legs to jump away from Milotic and closer to Gary. It continued to hold its hand over its mouth, hurt by the poison.

"_This is bad, this is very bad." _Gary frantically repeated in his head. But no matter how many times he did it, it never got any easier.

"Milotic, use hydro pump!" Leaf ordered.

"Milo…tic!" The tender pokemon screeched as it blasted a powerful jet of water from its mouth at Electivire. Gary's pokemon was still affected by the powerful poison-type attack used by Milotic and it found it difficult to flex its muscles as it did earlier.

Gary's eyes snapped up as he saw the incoming hydro pump and got an idea. "Electivire, use thunder!" He ordered.

"Eleci…vire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as the balls on the end of its tails were surrounded by yellow electricity. Electivire then stood tall as its entire body became surrounded in electricity and was encompassed into a blast which was sent at the incoming hydro pump.

"Water conducts electricity, you're done for!" Gary proclaimed.

The blast of electricity met with the jet of water and it did exactly what Gary predicted. The electricity swirled around the water and climbed back up to the mouth from where the water had come. The electricity zapped Milotic with amazing power and evaporated the water into nothingness as Milotic whaled from the pain of the attack.

"Milotic, no!" Leaf frantically shouted at her injured pokemon.

"Electivire, thunder punch!" Gary commanded.

"Electi!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as its fist became covered in electricity and it ran towards Leaf's Milotic. Though it was still suffering the effects of the toxic, it was now able to keep it under control and not allow it to get worse at the moment. Electivire put its hand up in the air, getting ready to punch down on Milotic who was still on the ground after the last attack.

"Milotic, get out of there!" Leaf screamed.

"Electi!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as its fist of thunder made contact with Leaf's pokemon.

"Milo!" The tender pokemon shouted in pain.

* * *

"This is really bad for Leaf!" Brendan exclaimed. "At this rate, Milotic's gonna be knocked out."

"But Leaf still has one pokemon." Ash stated. "And she could still win with Milotic."

"Yeah, but, Milotic's looking really worn out." Brock said as he looked at the tender pokemon which could barely stand up.

* * *

"Use iron tail!" Gary commanded.

"Dodge it!" Leaf shouted.

"Milo!" The tender pokemon shouted in pain as it was unable to dodge the attack and sent flying back by Electivire's tail. It now lay on the ground, struggling to move with its trainer knowing that just one more attack could defeat it.

"Milotic, can you still fight?" Leaf asked.

The tender pokemon let out a high pitched sound which forced all but Leaf to cover their ears. As its trainer, Leaf seemed used to the noise while the entire audience whaled in pain, even Tucker needed to cover his ears as the sound waves could visibly be seen in the camera screens.

"Milotic, use ice beam!" Leaf commanded.

"Miiiii!" The tender pokemon shouted as it fired a blue ball from its mouth which broke off into several blue beams of light and headed towards the opponent. But for some reason, Gary didn't appear worried.

"Electivire, protect!" He commanded.

"Electivire!' The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it covered itself in a green barrier just before the ice beam hit. The ice-type move was blocked by the attack and rendered useless. The barrier was then lowered and Electivire stood confident and tall.

"_Darn, I didn't know Electivire knew protect."_ Leaf angrily thought.

"Alright Electivire, it's time to finish off this battle here and now!" Gary declared. "So, use thunder!"

"Electi…vire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as the balls on its tails became covered in yellow electricity which soon surged around the rest of its body. The electricity quickly converged into a single beam which was directed by Electivire at Milotic. The powerful electric-type attack shocked the tender pokemon almost as hard as it did the first time, this time being lighter since there was no water present.

After withstanding the blast for a few moments, Milotic fell to the ground in defeat as the attack dissipated. Electivire put its arms upwards and sparked electricity between its antennae, taking pride in its victory as the audience cheered for it. As Leaf sadly recalled and thanked her Milotic for the work it had done, considering that the toxic was still in effect, working slowly.

"Milotic is no longer able to battle!" Tucker declared. "Green trainer, you must choose your final pokemon!"

"Now she only has one pokemon left, just like me." Gary thought to himself. "What type is she gonna use?"

* * *

"Only a ground-type pokemon would be effective against Electivire." Brock stated.

"But another electric-type could resist those thunderpunch and thunder attacks." Brendan suggested.

"Yeah but then Electivire could resist those same attacks and they'd be evenly matched." Dawn reminded him. "If she uses Leafeon's grass-type to resist the electric attacks, she just might have the advantage in that scenario. Otherwise, she won't."

_"If it's a grass-type pokemon you need, I think I know which one you're gonna need."_ Ash thought to himself as he looked over at Leaf's actions being relayed on the cameras. She was going through her bag, frantically looking for something.

* * *

"Found it!" She cheered as she took out a pokeball and threw it into the air. "It's your turn now!"

"Saur!" The seed pokemon boomed as it exited its pokeball. Leaf's very first pokemon now stood in the way of Gary's victory. With its grass-type attributes allowing it to resist any electric-type attacks, Electivire's chances of victory appeared slim. The face off between the two pokemon elicited cheers from the entire crowd as the cameras focused on every angle of their faces.

"_We need to do something about these cameramen."_ Tucker thought to himself.

"Don't worry, Electivire!" Gary told his pokemon. "We can still win this!"

* * *

"Now it's her Venusaur she's using!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Well, it is a grass-type, so she won't go down easy, regardless of Electivire's power." Brock stated, stroking his chin.

"Now it gets interesting!" Ash cheered.

"Pika!" The electric rodent cheered alongside its trainer.

* * *

"The green trainer has chosen their final pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Let the final battle of the semi-finals BEGIN!"

"Electivire, use iron tail!" Gary commanded.

"Elect!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as its two tails began to glow white. It quickly jumped into the air over Venusaur and came down with its tail first. Venusaur looked up to see it coming but appeared relatively unconcerned.

"Use seed bomb!" Leaf shouted.

"Saur!" The seed pokemon shouted as a white orb formed inside its flower. It then fired several white seeds from the orb upwards as Electivire as the thunderbolt pokemon came down for iron tail. The white seeds exploded on contact and sent Electivire flying back to Gary's side of the field, landing on its back.

"El…elect…" The thunderbolt pokemon muttered as it struggled to get back to its feet.

"That's not good." Gary said to himself in realization.

"Venusaur, earthquake!" Leaf commanded.

"Venu…Saur!" The seed pokemon shouted as it jumped a few feet into the air and then made its way back down. Upon landing, it sent shockwaves out across the field. Electivire was still struggling to get off the ground after the seed bomb attack and was instantly swept away by the earthquake. With its weakness the ground-type moves, Electivire couldn't do anything.

"Electivire!" Gary shouted as he saw his last pokemon get pummeled.

* * *

"Things really aren't looking good for Gary." Brendan observed.

"I guess we know who you're going to have to battle in the finals, Ash." Dawn subtly told him as she looked at the brunette coordinator who hadn't spoken a word since her boyfriend lost the battle.

* * *

"Elect…electi." The thunderbolt pokemon said as it managed to get to its feet after the devastating attack.

"Venusaur, use seed bomb again." Leaf told it.

"Saur!" The seed pokemon shouted as a white orb formed inside its flower. It then fired several white seeds from the orb at Electivire from across the field. While Electivire didn't know what to do, its trainer remained confident.

"Electivire, protect!" Gary shouted.

"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it raised its arms upwards and put up a green barrier around itself. The white seeds exploded on contact with the barrier and left Electivire completely unharmed. The barrier came down and showed Electivire standing proud, despite its many injuries. The crowd started cheering at this display of perseverance.

"Nice try but it's nowhere near enough!" Leaf shouted. "Venusaur, get in close!"

"Saur, Venusaur!" The seed pokemon shouted as it began running on all fours towards the thunderbolt pokemon, its large hulking body slowed it down. It soon met up with Electivire, who hadn't moved despite seeing its opponent coming.

"Electivire, now, use iron tail!" Gary shouted.

"Venusaur, use frenzy plant!" Leaf commanded.

* * *

"_Frenzy plant?" _Ash thought to himself as Electivire and Venusaur initiated their attacks.

* * *

"Venu…saurrrrrrr!" The seed pokemon boomed as its body started developing a light green aura. It the stomped on the ground and all of a sudden, many large roots sprouted from the ground. They were covered with thorns and headed straight for Electivire. The thunderbolt pokemon was knocked around by the roots as its iron tail attack was nullified by the battering.

"Electivire!" Gary shouted as he saw his pokemon get lost in the massive jungle of roots Venusaur had brought up. Frenzy plant was the ultimate grass-type attack, and it sure looked the part. Gary's final pokemon had completely disappeared.

"_Now he's finished."_ Leaf thought to herself.

"Saur." The seed pokemon said as it relaxed its body, sending the roots back into the ground. Their disappearance allowed the audience to see Electivire lying on the ground on its stomach, trying its best to get up.

"Electivire, don't ever give up!" Gary shouted to his pokemon. He was clenching his teeth as hard as he could, standing as tall as possible and trying his best to remain confident through the battle. But it was hopeless, he'd grown rusty from his lack of competitive battling and it now seemed like he couldn't measure up to trainers who had been battling for a long time, like Leaf.

* * *

"I can't believe it's over." Brendan said in disbelief.

"It…it can't be…over." Dawn struggled to say, trying to keep the tears back. "Not…yet."

"_He hasn't been in serious competition for a long time."_ Ash reasoned. _"He may have been able to beat beginners or even coordinators but against a trainer like Leaf, he may as well be done for."_

* * *

"_He hasn't moved an inch."_ Leaf thought.

"_I…I don't know what else I can do."_ Gary thought to himself, fighting the impulse to scream at the top of his lungs. _"I'm sorry Ash; it looks like I won't be getting the chance to fight you."_

"Elect…Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it managed to get to its feet after a great deal of struggling. It looked over at its large opponent who met its eyes with its own, much larger, eyes.

"Are you saying you wanna keep fighting?" Gary asked his pokemon.

"Elect." The thunderbolt pokemon responded.

"It's admirable that Electivire wants to keep going after all that punishment, but I won't hold back." Leaf told them. "Venusaur, seed bomb!"

"Saur!" The seed pokemon shouted as it formed a white orb inside its flower. It them shot a large number of white seeds out of the orb and aimed them at the injured Electivire.

"Electivire, protect!" Gary commanded.

"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokemon shouted as it raised a protective green shield around itself, preventing the seed bomb attack from hurting it. Once the shield was lowered, however, Electivire and its trainer noticed something bad approaching.

"Look out!" Gary shouted.

"Saurrrrrrr!" The seed pokemon shouted as it brought several thorn-covered-roots out of the ground and sent them at Electivire. Venusaur had once again used frenzy plant, the ultimate grass-type attack. The roots took Electivire by surprise, scooping it off the ground and hitting it again and again in the air, tossing it around and hurting it even worse that it had already been.

"Elect." The thunderbolt pokemon said as it dropped onto the ground, not moving an inch. From the cameras displayed around the field, it was clear what the outcome was.

"Electivire is no longer able to battle and so the red trainer is out of pokémon!" Tucker declared. "The victory goes to the green trainer, Leaf Green!"

Leaf and her Venusaur looked up and around at the cheering audience upon Tuckers announcement. The entire crowd was cheering for her impressive victory over Gary as Venusaur walked back over to its trainer who thanked it for its hard work and returned it to its pokeball. Gary sadly looked over at his defeat pokemon which he called back as well.

* * *

"_Congrats, Leaf."_ Ash thought, almost as if he was trying to direct the congratulations towards Leaf with his mind.

"Oh, Gary." Dawn softly said as she looked at her boyfriend who was nearly desolate of emotion.

"Well…I guess that's that." Brock shrugged as he looked down at the field.

* * *

Due to the crowds continuing cheers, Tucker couldn't make any more announcements and had to put up his hand to signal the audience to stop. "Thank you." He said with his microphone once they finally quieted down. "Can we have out other two semifinalists, Ash Ketchum and Brendan Birch, come down here?"

* * *

"He wants us to come down there?" Ash asked aloud.

"Guess so." Brendan said as he started to leave.

"Hey, wait for me!"

* * *

Once they reached the field where Leaf, Tucker and the reluctant Gary awaited, Ash and Brendan stood alongside their fellow semifinalists and looked up at Tucker. Leaf and Ash's eyes met one another, filled with emotion, as they could keep their promise. But concentration broke once Tucker began speaking.

"So there you have it, the four semifinalists of the Battle Spirits Tournament!" Tucker announced to the crowd that suddenly became enthusiastic and started to cheer before they were signaled to stop.

"Brendan Birch and Gary Oak, you two will battle for the third place title two days from now on the 65th floor. It is a one-on-one match, however so you can only use one pokemon for battle." Tucker told them. "Do you acknowledge?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah, sure."

"And as for our two finalists, Ash Ketchum and Leaf Green." Tucker started. "The finals will be a six-against-six full battle with substitutions allowed."

The audience cheered at hearing that. After not being allowed to substitute pokemon for the preliminaries or any of the rounds that came after it, they now could. It allowed them to change their pokemon to try out different strategies, counter a type disadvantage and more.

"It will be held one week from today on the 70th floor." Tucker told them as he turned to the cameras. "And that will be a live telecast rather than a day-late broadcast. This concludes the semi finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament; please rejoin us for our third place match and our upcoming finals!"

When he finished his announcement, the cameras stopped rolling and the audience got up to go. The four semifinalists could see from where they were that their friends in the stand had gotten up and were waiting for them. They proceeded to leave but something stopped them.

* * *

"Ash, Leaf, I'd like you two to stay here for further information." Tucker called out to them as the audience continued to clear out.

"We'll catch up with you guys later." Ash told Brendan and Gary.

"Let us take care of this first." Leaf told them.

The two finalists went back to see the acting referee after he called them.

"The tournament is nearing its end and our television ratings have never been higher." He told them. "But for the finals, we need one…extra…push."

"A publicity stunt in the tournament?" Leaf asked.

"More like an extravagant stunt." Tucker corrected her. "What do you say?"

The finalist couple looked at one another and then turned back to Tucker.

* * *

Back at Leaf's vacation house, time had passed and Leaf and Ash hadn't come back. May had kept herself in her room and neither Brock nor Dawn had any luck in getting her out. Brendan and Gary had split up from the group to go to the pokemon centre and have their pokemon healed for their third place battle.

Soon after, Ash, Pikachu and Leaf returned. They walked in and noticed Dawn sitting on the couch watching television, Brock sitting alone in the kitchen but the other three were nowhere to be found.

"Dawn, where's everyone else?" Ash asked her.

"Brendan and Gary went to the pokemon centre." Dawn told him. "And May's in her room."

"What's she doing in there alone?" Leaf asked.

"I wish I knew." Dawn replied. "Ever since Brendan lost she's been really quiet."

"I'll go up a-"

"Allow me." Leaf said as she grabbed his arm just as he was about to go upstairs. "You go to the pokemon centre, you pokemon need to be healed."

"But what about yours?" Ash asked.

"I can heal them myself." Leaf assured him. "I have the right number of potions."

"…But if May's not-"

"Trust me Ash, it's a girl thing." She smiled. "Let me take care of it."

And with those words, Leaf went upstairs leaving Ash and Dawn downstairs in the living room. Ash sat down on the couch as well and started watching TV with Dawn. Brock was pretending not to notice the conversation since he was thinking of his own problems with the ladies.

"_I guess I could go when Gary and Brendan come back."_ Ash thought.

* * *

A few hours had passed since Ash returned. May and Leaf were still upstairs. Ash was outside with his Infernape, training while Brock was outside too, staring into the sky.

"Alright Infernape, use mach punch on the tree stump!" Ash shouted as he pointed out a tree stump on the ground, the same one where he opened the safe containing the picture of his first kiss.

"Inferna…peeeeee!" The flame pokemon said as its fist started to glow light blue and it punched the tree stump. The attack shattered the stump with little effort, leaving only pieces of bark scattered on the ground.

"Great work, Infernape!" Ash cheered from behind. "We need to keep working hard now that we're in the finals!"

"_He's got that right."_ Brock thought as he managed to pay attention for once.

* * *

Back inside the house, Gary and Brendan came back from the pokemon centre. Dawn immediately took notice of their entrance and immediately ran to hug Gary.

"Gary, I'm so sorry that had to happen but you were still great, all your pokemon battles hard, your strategies were-"

"You're…crushing m-me." Gary struggle to say inside of Dawn's seeming choke-hold.

"I'm sorry." She said as she let go. "How are your pokemon?"

"Well, Nurse Joy healed them and says they're all gonna be fine." He told her.

"How's May?" Brendan asked.

"Well Leaf is with her upstairs right now, they've been there for a few hours." Dawn explained. "Maybe you should go see her, since you're her boyfriend and everything."

"You've got a point there." Brendan said as he threw his backpack on the couch and ran upstairs.

"Hey Brendan!" Dawn called out as the trainer in the strange hat was nearly at the top of the stairs. "Thanks for the information about Leaf and Ash!"

"No sweat!" He said as he turned the corner of the stairs and left.

Gary began looking around. "Speaking of him, do you know where Ash is?"

"While we were watching TV, he said something about training and going to the pokemon centre after you and Brendan got back." Dawn told him.

Gary then started walking towards the outside training field as Dawn turned around to see him go. "I gotta talk to him. I'll be back."

* * *

Back on the outside training field, Ash and Infernape were celebrating the success of another successfully destroyed wooden target hanging from the tree as Gary showed up unexpectedly.

"Ash!" He called out.

"Uhh…hey Gary, you're back?"

"Clearly." The brown haired researcher laughed. "You need to go to the pokemon centre, don't you?"

"Well yeah, but I was waiting for you to get back." Ash explained. "And Leaf and I had some things to discuss with Tucker so we came back late."

"Never mind that, when you get back…we need to talk." Gary told him.

"Fine." Ash replied as he held out Infernape's pokeball. "Return!"

The raven haired trainer put the pokeball away, his faithful electric rodent Pikachu jumped up on his shoulders as he sprinted off towards the Olivine City pokemon centre. The breeder with the perpetually shut eyes and the future researcher returned to the house right after.

"So Gary, which pokemon are you using against Brendan for the third place match?" Brock asked.

His question was met with a shrug. "Beats me. I'll figure it out after I get my training done tomorrow."

"And that bit of info about Ash and Leaf this morning, nice!" He said with a surprisingly large smile on his face.

"No problem."

* * *

Back inside, Dawn sat in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn next to her. He seemed intently focused on the current commercial as Gary and Brock entered.

"Guys!" She turned around. "They say there's gonna be a special guest in the finals."

* * *

Rayquaza45: So there you have it, the end of the 15th chapter and more to come. Please, please, please review now that the chapter is done! The more reviews I get, the faster you get the next chapter!

Next time: **Chapter 16: Difficult Acceptances**

Brendan and May have a conversation about themselves and discover what they really mean to each other. Meanwhile, Leaf has read the Olivine City newspapers, and she's not happy about it. And you won't like her when she's angry. And just who is this special guest?

Till next time!


	16. Difficult Acceptances

Rayquaza45: Hey there readers! I now return with a new chapter for you to read. It took a while, but I guess you'll like it. If you want faster updates though, remember to review more. But now, let's get on with it.

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any of its concepts.

* * *

**Chapter 16: Difficult Acceptances **

"A special guest?" Brock asked.

"That's what Tucker just announced on TV." Dawn pointed out. "He's gonna appear during the finals."

"Who is it?" Gary asked.

"Well they haven't mentioned _that_." Dawn said, rolling her big blue eyes. "If I knew, I'd tell _you_."

"And…I appreciate that." Gary said, desperately trying to cover the blush on his face.

"_Well I know when I can't stick around."_ Brock thought to himself as he left the house.

* * *

At the Olivine City pokemon centre, Ash Ketchum was on the video phone with none other than Professor Samuel Oak of Pallet Town. Having entered the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament, he now needed pokemon to fight. The electric rodent, Pikachu, on his shoulder smiled happily during the conversation.

"Well Ash, I must say, now that you're in the finals against Leaf you've already established yourself as an excellent trainer, but you still have a ways to go." The professor said.

"I understand, Professor Oak." Ash nodded. "That's why I wanna win this tournament."

"Very well then Ash." He responded. "Which pokemon are you sending back?"

"Totodile and Heracross." Ash told him. "And can you send Swellow in place?"

"Sure Ash, but you'll only have five pokemon then." The professor pointed out.

"Well that's not a problem." Ash smiled. "I'm gonna have that taken care of."

"Very well then." The professor smiled. "Please put the pokeballs on the transporter."

Taking the lure ball containing his Totodile and the pokeball containing his Heracross off his belt, Ash set the two on the pokeball transporter. Two of the six slots were now filled. A red zap of light later and both were gone as a single pokeball took the place of one while one remained empty. Ash took the ball and set it on his belt and turned to the professor.

"Professor, I got it on this end." Ash smiled.

"Okay Ash, your Totodile and Heracross are here with me now." The professor told him.

"And now I've gotta go, Professor." Ash said.

"Okay then." He said. "All the best in the final match, your mother and I will be watching the live broadcast."

"PikaPi?" The electric rodent on Ash's shoulder asked after the professor hung up and he turned off the video phone.

"We're gonna need to get ready for the finals." Ash told it. "But first, we'll need another of our old friends."

Ash then turned the video phone back on. In the background was what appeared to be very large cliffs as a figure with green hair appeared.

* * *

Back at Leaf's vacation house, Brendan had somehow managed to get inside May's room. The light-brown haired coordinator had been keeping to herself in her room for quite some time. Even Leaf had been unable to get her to come out of it.

"Whenever you're ready, we can talk." Brendan calmly told her as he sat next to her on the bed.

"I'm sorry." She finally said as she hunched over even more.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." Brendan told her.

"I do!" May argued. "I said a bunch of things I shouldn't have said."

"Is this about what happened when I lost to Ash?" Brendan asked. "Gary told me you got into a catfight."

"I…" She just didn't know what to say? She'd insulted the boy who'd made her life what it was. Without Ash, she'd probably still be some girl who refused to acknowledge pokemon and just wanted to travel near and far, aimlessly. And Ash didn't even know that it'd happened, she believed.

"Ash will never hold a grudge if that's what you're thinking." Brendan told her.

Admittedly, she'd known Ash for a longer time, having traveled with him for over a year while Brendan had just known Ash for a matter of weeks. But even after the business with Leaf's and Ash's first date and Brendan taking Pikachu under Leaf's orders, Ash forgave him.

"I just can't get over all of what I said." May shuttered. "There was no real cause for it."

"Well start with this: let it go." Brendan told her.

"Let it go?" May asked.

"Ash won't ever hold anything against you, neither will Leaf." Brendan did his best to try and comfort her but he was, by his own admission in his head, bad at it. Still, he needed to look confident.

"You know Brendan, I don't get you." May laughed, for the first time that day.

"It's been a while since I saw you smile while joking about me." Brendan said, now smiling himself.

"I guess it's has been a while, hasn't it." May smiled. "Ever since the Wallace Cup, when I returned from the Sinnoh region."

* * *

(Goldenrod City, Johto Region)

(Several Months Ago)

* * *

In a backstage room of a contest hall located near the Goldenrod City Radio Tower, four people sat or stood at various positions in the room, engaged in a conversation. One of them was May, dressed in her green bandana and orange shirt and black shorts.

"What would you know about something like that?" May shouted.

"I know if you'd used Venusaur, you would've won easily!" A boy with green hair told her. He was dressed in light blue pants, a black shirt under a purple jacket.

"What do you care, Drew!" A lady with pink hair scolded him. She wore a brown outfit similar to a park ranger. She attempted to look tough but this didn't make the green haired boy back down. "You didn't even compete."

"What does it matter if _I_ didn't compete?" The boy argued. "If I had I'd have won easily!"

"Yeah, and cried after out of sadness, no doubt." An effeminately-dressed man with purple hair proclaimed, eliciting laughter from the girls.

"Shut up, Harley!" Drew shouted. "Why don't you go back to the contest hall, I'm sure Robert and his Milotic are more than willing to kick your butt again!"

"But I'm sure he'd much prefer to beat you." Harley countered. "Right, Solidad?"

"Aargh, forget this!" Drew shouted as he stormed out of the room. "I don't need this now!"

The other three coordinators looked on, none of them bothered to stop him.

* * *

On the outside of the building the green haired coordinator, Drew, continued to walk away angrily. Down the streets of the high-tech Goldenrod City, big buildings and people all around, he continued to walk with his eyes stubbornly closed until he bumped into another boy wearing a white hat with a black bottom, red and black shoes, black pants with yellow stripes at the bottom and a red and black shirt with long sleeves.

"Watch where you're going, idiot." Drew shouted at the boy.

"What did you just call me?" The boy in the hat asked. "You better learn some manners, boy."

"And I suppose you wanna teach me the ways of the noob?" Drew retorted, stereotypically flipping his hair.

"Maybe." The boy responded, taking a pokeball out of his pocket.

* * *

Close to the entrance of Goldenrod City was a park. It had nice green grass and tall trees all around it where several children were playing with smaller pokemon such as Nidoran and Snubbul.

"Feel free to forfeit now if you want, idiot." Drew called out to the boy in the white hat.

"I was just gonna say the same to you!" The boy responded as he threw his pokeball into the air. The pokeball opened and released a red light which turned into a pokemon with leaves on its hands and its body covered in white hair.

"Shiftry!" The wicked pokemon shouted as it exited the pokeball.

"And the name's Brendan!" The boy in the white hat shouted as his pokemon got in its fighting stance.

"_A Shiftry, huh."_ Drew thought as he took out another pokeball. "Go for it." He shouted as he threw it in the air.

"Roserade!" The bouquet pokemon shouted as it came out of its pokeball.

* * *

Back at the entrance of the contest hall, May was eagerly waiting for Drew to return, pacing up and down the street. Sure, there was no contest scheduled to take place but they couldn't exactly leave without him since they were traveling together. A while had passed since Drew stormed out and hadn't been heard from since. Solidad wondered where he was while Harley couldn't care less.

Finally, too much time had passed for May to take it easy and she left the area to go find Drew herself. She walked around the immediate area for a while, not knowing where he was and so not finding anything in the crowded areas she was in.

Eventually, she left the crowded part of the city and went the other way. She soon approached a park filled with kids and other small pokemon while wild Pidgey's flew overhead. She looked out further into the park and noticed a boy resembling Drew, battling with some other boy roughly the same age.

As May approached the two battlers, she noticed the occurrences. Drew's Roserade was being heavily bashed around by a Shiftry. Attack for attack, the bouquet pokemon was unable to match up to the strength of the wicked pokemon.

"Drew!" She called out.

"May?" Drew asked as he looked over, seeing the light brown haired coordinator calling out to him.

"_Did he just say 'May'?" _Brendan thought to himself as he looked over his shoulder. He noticed a girl, roughly the same age as himself, dressed in a green bandana, an orange shirt and black shorts. The exact same clothes he'd made for a girl several months ago back in the Hoenn region. Ash he turned around, the girl noticed him as well.

"Brendan!" She called out in surprise as she saw him turn around. He was the same boy who'd helped her fight a wild Steelix that had ambushed her and Professor Birch several months ago. But he mentioned that he was going to the Sinnoh region, what was he doing in Johto?

"May, you know this guy?" Drew asked her from afar. His Roserade had taken a serious beating while Brendan's Shiftry had sustained little injury so he was keen not to leave it.

"Well…yeah." She answered. What was she going to do if Drew found out about Brendan and her previous meeting?

"So how is it you know her, plant boy?" Brendan taunted him.

Drew didn't immediately answer, he just fumed for a moment and pointed his hand outwards. "Roserade, use magical leaf!"

"Ro…rose…err…ade!" The bouquet pokemon grunted as if struggled to get up. Finally managing to do so, it started spinning around and released several glowing leaves from the flowers on its hand. The leaves began spinning towards Shiftry at a quick speed.

"Shiftry, use aerial ace!" Brendan commanded.

"Shift…reeeee!" The wicked pokemon screeched as it covered its body in a white swirl and began flying towards its opponent. On the way there, it bashed through the magical leaf attack and approached its opponent as the leaves fell to the ground. With great force, Shiftry hit Roserade with intense force and knocked the bouquet pokemon to the ground far away.

"Roserade!" Drew shouted.

"Guess this means you lose, plant boy." Brendan snickered.

"Return." Drew said as he held out a pokeball and a red beam of light took his fallen pokemon inside. "You win this time, whitey. You'd better hope we don't meet again."

And with that, the green haired coordinator known as Drew took his leave towards the pokemon centre. As much as May wanted to go after him, something made her want to stay back. As she approached Brendan, he recalled and thanked his Shiftry and turned to face her.

"Brendan, what happened?" She asked him.

"He made me angry and we battled." It wasn't possible for him to be blunter than that. While he'd have normally hidden something, something about May's beautiful blue eyes pulled the truth from him in its most basic form. "How do you know him?"

"He's a pokemon coordinator like me; we've been traveling the Johto region to compete in pokemon contests." She told him. "But what are you doing here? You said you were going to the Sinnoh region."

"I did." He said. "The Battle Tower in the Sinnoh Region is under repairs after some dude showed up there with a Darkrai and a Latios and wrecked the place."

"That's too bad, but still, why are you here?" May asked once again.

"What's wrong, May?" Brendan sarcastically asked. "Not happy to see me?"

"Oh come on, Brendan." She said as she playfully pushed him. "You know I am."

"Well I just came to Goldenrod to take in the sights." He explained. "I've never actually been to the Johto or Kanto regions before."

"Well that's gonna change soon, whitey." May laughed, careful to let Brendan know that she was just joking about the name.

"It's just a hat." He countered, pulling the visible white off his head multiple times and revealing black hair underneath, clearly proving that it was, in fact, just a hat that he was wearing.

"Okay then, it's a hat." May laughed. "Let's just go and get something to eat, shall we?"

* * *

(Leaf's Vacation House, Olivine City)

(Present Day)

* * *

"That sure was a weird day." Brendan said. "What ever happened to that guy with the green hair?"

"Well he kept competing in pokemon contests." May told him. "And he's been pretty successful too."

"I guess losing to me really gave him a kick in the pants." Brendan laughed.

"Yeah…well there may have been someone else who kicked him in the pants." May added with the thought of a pink-haired coordinator in mind.

"Even still…you and I were together in the city for a while, weren't we?" Brendan asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, I guess." She said with a mild blush on her face.

"Well…here's to a longer time together." Brendan proclaimed, giving May a kiss on the cheek. But May didn't exactly want to stop there. As he pulled away, she moved closer to him, almost to the point of leaping off her bed and kissed him on the mouth.

"_I'm gonna love this!"_ Brendan thought to himself as he continued his activity.

* * *

Back downstairs, Ash entered the house, having returned from the pokemon centre. He noticed Dawn, Gary and Brock sitting on the couches watching TV. Gary and Dawn say right next to each other while Brock sat on a different couch entirely. The three of them took their eyes off the TV as the finalist entered the room.

"Hey there, Ash." Dawn greeted him.

Surprisingly, there was no response.

"What's wrong Ash?" Brock asked.

"What's that in your hand?" Gary asked, noticing the raven haired trainer carrying something under his arm.

"It's…uhh…" He hesitated. "It's weird."

"Show us." Gary told him.

Ash immediately took the item out from under his arm, revealing a newspaper. He threw it onto the table in front of the three people on the couch. The three of them read the headline, and their entire body stopped moving for a minute. The front page featured a picture of Ash and a picture of Leaf on the front page separated by a pokeball. But the biggest shock was the headline:

_Love Couple in the Finals_

"What the!" Dawn shouted in surprise.

"That's…that's just…wow." Brock came out.

"What's so funny?" Ash asked the future pokemon researcher.

"It's…it's the actual ar…article you've gotta re...read." Gary struggled to say through his laughter.

"Actual article?" Ash asked as he began reading the rest of the paper.

_An anonymous source has revealed that the two finalists of the Battle Spirits Tournament; Ash Ketchum and Leaf Green, are carrying on a romantic relationship. Both trainers are known to be the same age and are from Pallet Town, located in the Kanto region. _

"What in the world!" Ash shouted.

All of a sudden, the back doors opened up. Leaf approached the four in the living room from the outside training field, having head all the commotion.

"Guys, what wrong?" She asked. "I can hear you from outside."

Gary immediately took the newspaper off the table and gave it to Leaf. Not wanting his girlfriend to see the headline, Ash immediately rushed her, hoping he could get the paper back.

"Who's the anonymous source?" Leaf asked.

"I don't know!" Ash exclaimed. "The only ones who knew anything were the five of us, May and Brendan."

"So are you saying it was one of us?" Gary asked.

"Well…you guys were the only ones who knew." Ash shrugged.

"Well…that's not exactly true." Leaf told him.

"What?" Ash asked.

"Someone else knows about you guys?" Gary asked.

"Yeah, back at the lighthouse, we ran into the gym leader Jasmine and the former Hoenn champion, Steven Stone." Leaf told him. "They know too."

"I'm sorry, but did you just say Steven Stone and Jasmine were at the lighthouse…and they saw you two…and they were…together?" Brock asked, hoping that the answer would be favorable for him.

"Yeah." Leaf said, not knowing the implications of her answer.

Nobody spoke for a few moments as Brock reflected on what he had just heard. Jasmine, the girl who'd earlier turned him down, was dating the son of a wealthy businessman and the former champion of the Hoenn region. How could he compete with that?

"Uhh…Brock?" Ash asked.

"It's nothing, Ash." Brock assured him. "I'm gonna go upstairs."

"Brock?" With that, the rock-type gym leader of Pewter City left the living room and proceeded to his bedroom upstairs. While Leaf had obviously not known what she'd done, Ash sure did.

"Hey, so do you think they leaked it?" Dawn asked, trying to distract everyone so Brock could leave unnoticed from therein.

"Steven and Jasmine?" Ash reviewed. "Nah, I can't imagine them doing something like this."

"Well whoever did leak it, they also gave the readers a question to answer." Leaf said as she pointed to the bottom of the article.

_Will the two lovers be able to put their feelings side for the final battle, or will they let their hormones get to them?_

"What kind of question is that!" Ash shouted aloud, hurting everyone's ears.

"It's almost a reasonable question." Gary suggested. "Can you guys put your feelings aside?"

Both trainers looked at each other and turned back to Gary. "Yeah." "Yes."

"Seriously?" Gary was confused. "You don't even need to think about it?"

"What there to think about?" Ash asked. "I never let my personal feelings get to me during a pokemon battle."

"Ash and I are the same way in that regard." Leaf stated. "I'm not gonna go easy on him. I'm here to win it all."

"So am I!" Ash exclaimed.

"Guess that settles that." Dawn proclaimed. "Who's hungry?"

Nothing settles your thirst quite like a bottle of lemonade. As to Ash, nothing settles him like a huge lunch. After eating as much as they could, Dawn and Gary retreated to the upstairs attic for what they claimed to be research, when they really just wanted to see if there was anymore embarrassing stuff in there about Ash and Leaf. If someone gave anonymous tips to the paper, they probably wanted more.

* * *

On the outside training field, Ash and Pikachu sat on the stairs leading to the ground, staring up at the sky.

"I gave the right address." Ash stated. "He ought to get here soon."

"Pika." The electric rodent acknowledged.

As if on queue, Brendan and May exited the house. Ash and Pikachu turned around and noticed that the two of them were smiling at one another happily as Brendan had his hand on May's shoulder.

"Hey, guys." Ash welcomed them.

"Hi Ash." Brendan responded. "What're you doing out here?"

"I'm just waiting for an old friend." Ash smiled as he turned around and looked up at the sky.

"He's…coming in by air?" May asked.

"Kinda." Ash laughed. "So, Brendan what pokemon are you gonna use against Gary the day after tomorrow?"

"I was leaning towards Aggron, but I'm still not sure." He told him. "What do you think?"

"Even Gary doesn't know who he's gonna use." Ash told him. "Choose the pokemon you think can get the job done."

"That's just the tip of the ice berg." Brendan yawned.

"So…Ash…" May started. "How are you gonna go up against Leaf?"

"I'm not sure." Ash said. "I kinda thought I could just go out there and do what I've been doing." He said, resulting in May and Brendan sweatdropping.

"Come on!" Brendan exclaimed. "Leaf's way too strong for you to try that!"

"You saw what she did to Gary." May shouted. "You wanna let her do that to you too and lose the tournament?"

"Well I…uh…"

"Just keep working harder and harder." May advised him. "And you have a chance."

* * *

(The next day)

* * *

Ash waited for several hours for his friend to show up, but he never did. Upon inquiry, it seemed logical to assume that he got lost in the mountains and was still trying to get to Ash. Since he never showed up, Ash spent a great deal of time waiting with Pikachu by his side doing nothing but discuss their final battle.

Brendan and May went into the city for some reason known only to them and went to the pokemon centre afterwards so Brendan could make a final decision about which pokemon to use against Gary. Speaking of the future researcher, he also made his decision about his pokemon and was ready to face Brendan in the third place battle.

Leaf, meanwhile, was almost a ghost. Having heard very little from her after the newspaper incident, Ash just figured she went elsewhere to train and such, or to the pokemon centre to heal her pokemon.

Brock, on the other hand, was present all day. Cooking surprisingly large and unnecessary meals, cleaning the house and even the outside training field, he kept himself busy. Dawn suggested that it was his new way of dealing with the realization that Jasmine was dating Steven Stone.

In the living room inside Leaf's vacation house, Dawn and Gary sat on the couch watching the repeat broadcast of Leaf's battle against Gary.

* * *

(TV)

* * *

"Look out!" Gary shouted.

"Saurrrrrrr!" The seed pokemon shouted as it brought several thorn-covered-roots out of the ground and sent them at Electivire. Venusaur had once again used frenzy plant, the ultimate grass-type attack. The roots took Electivire by surprise, scooping it off the ground and hitting it again and again in the air, tossing it around and hurting it even worse that it had already been.

"Elect." The thunderbolt pokemon said as it dropped onto the ground, not moving an inch. From the cameras displayed around the field, it was clear what the outcome was.

"Electivire is no longer able to battle and so the red trainer is out of pokemon!" Tucker declared. "The victory goes to the green trainer, Leaf Green!"

Leaf and her Venusaur looked up and around at the cheering audience upon Tuckers announcement. The entire crowd was cheering for her impressive victory over Gary as Venusaur walked back over to its trainer who thanked it for its hard work and returned it to its pokeball. Gary sadly looked over at his defeat pokemon which he called back as well.

* * *

(Reality)

* * *

"I still can't believe how that battle went." Dawn ranted in awe as her eyes were glued to the TV. "And now Ash is in the finals!"

"Yeah…he is." Gary sadly acknowledged. As happy as he was for Ash, he couldn't help but feel disappointed at the fast that he lost his battle against Leaf. Though he could battle Brendan for third place, he would not get the chance to battle Ash.

"Are you alright, Gary?" Dawn asked, putting her hand on his knee.

"…Yeah. I'm fine." He decided, putting his hand on hers upon his knee.

Outside, on the training field, Ash and Pikachu strayed from their usual method of training to work on physical power. Both trainer and pokemon worked out side by side, doing push-ups on the ground.

"Eighteen….nineteen….twenty!" Ash counted as he and his partner went up and down, grunting with each addition.

"Pi…pi…pika!" The electric rodent exclaimed after it finished.

"Well…we may be great at running…Pikachu…" Ash panted. "But we need to…work on these push-ups."

"Pi." The electric rodent nodded in agreement.

* * *

Back on the inside, a tall individual in an apron was at the kitchen stove, cooking what appeared to be 3 meals simultaneously by himself. He comically hummed a tune that would get on anybody's nerves as he flipped two pans of frying onions and eggs.

"And this is how it goes!" He exclaimed aloud as he flipped a burger out of its pan and caught it in the air and put it back.

"Brock, stop singing!" A loud voice shouted from the living room.

"Not happening, Gary!" Brock shouted back as he continued to fry the burger.

Back in the living room, Dawn and Gary were still watching TV while Brendan and May entered the house from the front door. The two of them were smiling at one another in a way that made even Dawn and Gary's questionable activities look normal.

"Hey, guys." Gary welcomed them. "Where were you?"

"In the forest…then the docks outside the forest." Brendan said as he turned to May and then turned back to them. "Where we met some interesting people."

* * *

(Olivine City Forest)

(Several Hours Ago)

* * *

"Man this forest is huge." Brendan said in awe as he looked up at the trees around him and the sunlight shining through the leaves, giving them a green glow almost like CGI.

"Come on Brendan." May said, playfully pushing him from behind. "We'll never find a pearl in the trees."

"How do you know there're even pearls here?" Brendan asked.

"Because it's in the Olivine City guide book." May smiled. "People have been known to find small pearls in the city."

"So then why are we in the forest looking for crystal-clear pearls?" Brendan asked as if it were the most obvious question in the world.

May couldn't answer immediately since pearls weren't her actual reason for entering the forest with her boyfriend. Now she had to think of something to tell him before he began to think that she was stupid.

"Well…I-" May started before she was cut off.

"Help!" A voice called out from the distance. May and Brendan immediately began turning their head, looking for the source of the voice.

"Who was that?" Brendan asked as he turned back to May, unable to find the voice.

"Can we get some help over here!" The same voice called out.

"It came from the east!" May exclaimed as she ran off with Brendan following her behind.

Both May and Brendan soon exited the forest and saw the sun shining brightly on them, blinding them slightly. They got used to it soon as they were some figures standing at the edge of the coast on wooden docks facing the ocean with something staring down at them.

"Hey!" A boy in a turquoise half-sleeved shirt and olive jeans called out to the approaching Hoenn region trainers.

He and another boy wearing a yellow and black hat, a red sweater and black knickers with a watched strapped to his wrist were facing down a Tentacruel in the water which appeared to be far larger than a normal-sized Tentacruel. In front of the boys lay a fainted Typhlosion and a fainted Meganium. Seeing the sight, Brendan immediately took out a pokeball and threw it into the air as he ran towards the boys.

"Go get 'em!" He shouted as the light that came out of his pokeball revealed his Swampert, which charged in front of the two boys with a roar.

"What happened?" May asked the two boys as Brendan's Swampert faced down the giant Tentacruel.

"This Tentacruel attacked us for no reason!" The boy in the turquoise shirt exclaimed.

The boy was rightfully surprised. Wild pokemon attacking random people, let alone trainers, was somewhat rare and the fact that it had even defeated their pokemon was cause for concern.

"Alright then, get back." May told them as she took out her own pokeball and released the pokemon inside.

"Saur!" A large green pokemon with a flower on its back bellowed upon exit from the catching device. Venusaur lumbered on over towards Swampert while the two boys recalled their pokemon into their pokeballs and ran behind the pokemon and stood next to May and Brendan.

"Swampert, ice beam!" Brendan shouted.

"Swamperrrrrrrrrt!" The mud fish pokemon shouted as it created a large blue ball in front of its mouth and fired it at the giant pokemon, spraying it in its large red crystal sphere and knocking it back into the water.

"Venusaur, get in position!" May told it.

"Saur." The seed pokemon bellowed as it lowered its head and braced its legs.

With a large splash of water, the giant Tentacruel returned to the surface with a vengeance, covering the entire area with water and knocking back Swampert with one of its tentacles.

"_Man, this thing is tough."_ Brendan thought to himself. _"Taking an ice beam and hardly feeling it."_

"Venusaur, use razor leaf, now!" May commanded.

"Veeenuuu…saurrr!" The seed pokemon shouted as it fired dozens of razor sharp leaves at its opponents face. The leaves hit it directly and sent it reeling back through the water, the pressure on both sides creating small waves as it was pushed back.

"You got it!" The boy in the turquoise shirt cheered.

"_I'm not so sure about that."_ The boy in the black and yellow hat thought as he saw more water coming towards them.

All of a sudden, the Tentacruel appeared once more. It was now angrier than ever, it began thrashing around in the water, smashing its tentacles into Swampert and Venusaur repeatedly. The four trainers could only watch as the two pokemon were taking a beating from an enemy that seemed immune to all their attacks.

"_I can't believe this."_ May thought to herself. _"What can we do?"_

"May." Brendan calmly called to her.

"Brendan?"

"This is just like before." He said. "Let's work together."

"Before?"

"Before." He repeated. "With the Steelix back in the Hoenn region. When we first met."

"So…we need to work together?"

"That's right." He nodded. "Use our best attacks."

"Venusaur, charge a solar beam!" May commanded.

"Cruuuuuel!" The jellyfish pokemon screeched as it thrashed around in the water, sending waves of water into the air and splashing the trainers.

"Swampert, hydro cannon!" Brendan commanded.

"Swamperrrrrrrt!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed as it fired a massive burst stream of water from its mouth at the jellyfish pokemon. The ultimate water-type attack hit Tentacruel right in the chest and powered through with unbelievable strength as Venusaur continued to charge energy.

"Venusaur, now!" May called out.

"Sauuuuuuuuuuur!" The seed pokemon shouted as it fired a ray of light-yellow energy at the jellyfish pokemon. The powerful grass-type attack scored a direct hit and worked together with the hydro cannon to bring down the giant pokemon.

"Keep going, Swampert!" Brendan cheered.

"Venusaur!" May called out.

Behind the two of them, the boys in the turquoise shirt and red sweater had their eyes fixed on the display of power being shown. While both their pokemon were knocked out, these two managed to put up an amazing fight.

"_I guess this is how they got so far into the tournament."_ The boy in the red sweater thought.

From nowhere, another ray of light-yellow energy flew over everyone's heads and hit the giant Tentacruel. Along with Venusaur's solar beam and Swampert's hydro cannon, the three attacks overpowered the jellyfish pokemon and sent it crashing below, sending the biggest waves yet into the air and drenching the trainers and their pokemon.

"We won!" May cheered as there was no sign of the jellyfish pokemon returning this time. The three attacks had done their job. The brown haired coordinator began jumping for joy as she took a quick leap in the air towards Brendan and hugged him full-on.

"Uhh…May?" Brendan asked from May's choke-like hug.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Behind you." He answered simply.

May released her boyfriend from her hug and turned around, noticing the two boys smirking at her display. She turned around and began blushing before she turned around quickly in curiosity. She noticed that a girl with blue hair was now standing with the boys. She wore black and pink shorts, a pink shirt under a white jacket and a blue hat. May and Brendan recognized her immediately as Marina, the coordinator who was beaten by Leaf in the quarter finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament.

"Marina, was that second solar beam yours?" The boy in the red sweater asked.

"It was one of my pokemon." She said as she comically smacked him in the head. "I go away for just fifteen minutes and you two get involved in all kinds of trouble!"

"Come on, Marina, it wasn't that bad." The boy tried to assure her as he rubbed his throbbing head.

"Only because Brendan and May showed up at the last second and saved your butts!" She exclaimed without hitting him.

"You know our names?" May asked.

"Of course, Brendan made it to the semifinals and he's going up against Gary Oak for third place." Marina recited.

"Well…you know." Brendan smiled as he put his hand behind his head.

"And you battled Gary Oak right after I was knocked out." Marina told the brown haired coordinator.

"Yeah and then he knocked me out." May sarcastically laughed. Being reminded of the loss was still a little painful.

"Well I wouldn't put much into the loss; you still had brains during the fight." She said as she turned to the boy in the turquoise shirt and stared into his eyes. "Unlike you!"

"Come on!" He pathetically pleaded. "Jimmy and I tried to fight-"

"You should've just escaped!" She shouted. "Jackson Vincent, I'm so disappointed in you."

"_Wow. Full name."_ The boy in the red sweater, Jimmy, thought to himself.

"Come on, now." Brendan said, getting between Marina and Jackson. "He just tried to defend himself."

"His 'defense' nearly destroyed these docks." Marina argued. "He needs to learn some real responsibility."

"_And I suppose you're the one to teach it?"_ Jimmy thought to himself.

* * *

(Leaf's Vacation House)

(Several Hours Later)

* * *

"So what happened to them after that?" Dawn asked.

"She took both of them under her arms and dragged them away." May laughed. "…She's surprisingly strong."

"That's one strange morning." Gary added.

"Speaking of mornings, what happened to Ash's friend?" Brendan asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be here?"

"He hasn't shown up yet." Gary told him.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the outside training field, Ash's Infernape was engaged in a sparring match against Pikachu in an attempt to improve Pikachu's speed and Infernape's accuracy. The flame pokemon threw several light punches against its much smaller opponent but was unable to land a hit against Pikachu, who kept dodging.

"Keep it up, guys!" Ash cheered from the side.

At that, Leaf exited the back of the house and came down the stairs to see Ash. He was unaware that she was coming up behind him and he was too focused on the pokemon. As she got closer and closer, she raised her arms higher and when she finally caught up to him, she covered his eyes with her hands and she stood behind him.

"Waaagh!" Ash screamed in agony as he was blinded. He couldn't see a thing and began shaking violently and Leaf wondered what he was doing. Was he playing along or did he think someone was after him.

"Ash! Ash! It's just me!" She called out as she put her hands up and let go of Ash.

"Wha…Leaf?" Ash asked as he turned around and noticed his girl smiling with he hands in the air, almost as if she were pretending to be under arrest. Pikachu and Infernape looked on in confusion as well.

"Just joking." She said while wearing her heart-melting smile. How could any guy stay mad at her for long?

"So where were you?" Ash asked. "We haven't seen you since yesterday."

"I was practicing for that stunt Tucker mentioned." She told him. "You should get working on yours too."

"Well my friend hasn't arrived yet." Ash explained. "When he's here…that's when I can start."

"Fair enough." She shrugged. "I'll see you later."

"Where are you going?" Ash asked her as she turned around to leave.

"Attending to some business." She told him as she turned back around and walked off as Ash and his pokemon looked on.

* * *

Much later that day, after Ash had trained with the five pokemon he currently had on hand, Pikachu, Infernape, Torterra, Sceptile and Swellow, he and Pikachu alone sat on the back steps of Leaf's vacation house late in the night, waiting for their friend to show up after everyone else, except possibly Dawn and Gary, had gone to bed.

"When he gets here, he's gonna be a huge help to us against the pokemon Leaf's gonna use." Ash told his partner. "We're gonna start training even harder and he's gonna help us with our stunt."

"Pika!" The electric rodent cheered.

All of a sudden, from high above the house, Ash heard a very lour roar as he and Pikachu looked up and saw was appeared to be moving embers in the sky which were accompanied by a loud roar.

"Pikachu!" The electric rodent shouted as it quickly got up and stared into the sky.

"Well…he's finally here." Ash said to himself as he got up. "I was beginning to think he got lost again."

* * *

Rayquaza45: Guess it's not too hard to guess who got lost in the mountains and found his way to Ash. I know you guys will love it.

It was kinda difficult to write this chapter since I'm not too good with personalities of Drew and Harley but I managed to pull through. And now we get closer and closer to the end.

Next time: Chapter 17: **Before The Night Is Through**. Brendan and Gary's third place match begins. Will the hoenn region trainer pull out a victory or will the future researcher claim it? And how are Ash and Leaf going to battle one another? And who the hell leaked the information about them to the papers?

Till next time!


	17. Before The Night is Through

Rayquaza45: Hi there , I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I have my reasons and don't worry, it had nothing to do with reviews this time. But now the chapter is here, so please read and review :)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Before The Night Is Through**

The two days since the semi finals had come and gone like a visit from your favorite relatives. Now, at 1:00pm, in the Battle Tower of Olivine City, Ash Ketchum, Leaf Green, Brock , Dawn and May sat in the audience stands above the battle ground on the 60th floor, ready to witness the battle for third place in the Battle Spirits Tournament commence.

The battling trainers, Brendan Birch and Gary Oak, also happened to be the boyfriends of Dawn and May, irrespectively.

As the acting referee for the match, Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier entered the referee podium on the field below the audience. The instant he came out, the multi-positioned cameras caught his entrance from every possible angle, eliciting cheers from the crowd as he looked up, confused until he saw the cameras and smiled, simply waving to the audience.

"Welcome, one and all!" He shouted into the microphone with his right hand waving in the air. "To the third place battle!"

Once again, the crowd began cheering and, for the first time in the tournament, comically throwing in various items which can only be described as 'inappropriate' for a televised event. Tucker immediately began putting up his arms over his head and started pleading for them to stop immediately. The inappropriate actions did stop and the laughs died down as Tucker spoke.

"We've been on a long and winding road, my friends." He said. "We've seen some great battlers and some not-so-great battlers. But we still have a ways to go so without further ado…will the red trainer, Brendan Birch, please enter the arena."

Heeding the call, Brendan Birch of the Hoenn region exited the red preparation room, slamming the doors behind him and creating an echoing noise throughout the area. Taking his position on the field, he stared up at the crowds, looking for May.

"And now…will our other third place finalist, the green trainer, Gary Oak, please enter the arena." Tucker called out.

As expected, Gary Oak of Pallet Town left the green preparation room immediately and took his place on the field across from Brendan, staring down his opponent. Neither of them said anything to the other as the audience looked on in silence.

* * *

"The tension can be cut with a knife." Brock commented.

Leaf looked at the two on the field and over her shoulder. "It's as quiet in here as it's ever been."

"All the better to enjoy the match." Ash added.

* * *

"As you know, this match is a one-on-one battle and each trainer is only allowed the use of one pokemon!" Tucker announced. "Both trainers are to choose their pokemon at the same time! Now!"

With almost ninja-like speed, Brendan and Gary took out a luxury ball and a pokeball respectively and tossed them into the air. From the luxury ball came Brendan's Aggron, the iron armour pokemon. From Gary's pokeball came his Golem, the megaton pokemon.

"Now then, both trainers have chosen their pokemon!" Tucker announced as he raised his right hand high in the air and lowered it with extreme speed. "Let the battle BEGIN!"

"Aag!" "Gol!" The two pokemon shouted as they charged in on each other. With colossal force, Aggron and Golem butted heads with one another and began their battle for supremacy. With their legs firmly planted in the ground, Aggron and Golem began pushing harder and harder, trying to force the other one down. But with its larger size and pointed horns, the iron armour pokemon managed to push back the megaton pokemon quite easily.

"Aggron, use head smash!" Brendan ordered.

"Golem, rollout!" Gary commanded.

"Aag…aag." "Lemmm…" The two pokemon shouted as they initiated their attacks. Aggron began running on all fours with its tri-pronged head skimming the ground. Golem retracted its legs, arms and head and rolled itself into a ball shape and began rolling towards the incoming Aggron. As the two pokemon hit one another, Aggron lifted up its head and the ball Golem had rolled itself into was tossed high into the air.

"Golem!" Gary worriedly shouted as he saw his pokemon flying through the air after getting tossed and immediately fall to the ground, making a crater from the impact.

Brendan's Aggron didn't exactly escape unharmed though, since the hardness of Golem's body caused the impact to give the iron armour pokemon ahead ache and resulted in it holding its head as if it were trying to block out all sound.

* * *

"I've heard of hard-headed, but…hard-bodied?" Dawn commented.

"Even dynamite can't break Golem's body." Brock stated. "Aggron's lucky to only have a small head ache after a direct collision."

"Still, Aggron isn't exactly a fragile pokemon." Leaf laughed.

* * *

"Aggron, get back in there with take down!" Brendan commanded.

"Golem, stop it with rock blast." Gary ordered.

"Goool." The megaton pokemon said as three light blue rings appeared and spun around its body. The rings then began to glow white and turned into glowing white rocks that spun around Golem's body as well. "EM!" Golem shouted as it fired the glowing white rocks at the charging Aggron.

The incoming iron armour pokemon had to run left and right to avoid the incoming rocks. Its large hulking body limited its speed as well and made dodging difficult as the rocks kept coming. When it finally got close enough to Golem, it immediately rammed its head into the megaton pokemon which had run out of rocks to launch. Surprisingly, Aggron was being resisted by its opponent who grabbed onto its horns and held it back as it tried to go forward.

"_How foolish." _Brendan thought to himself before ordering his attack. "Hyper beam!"

"Gronnnnn!" The iron armour pokemon shouted as it fired a powerful orange beam of energy at the megaton pokemon which was still grabbing onto its horns. The orange beam struck Golem directly in the face and sent the megaton pokemon flying back to the other side of the field with the beam acting as the driving force.

"Golem!" Gary shouted as he saw his pokemon being thrashed for the second time. If he didn't do something fast, he was surely going to lose.

* * *

"Brendan sure is as strong as ever." Ash pointed out.

"I guess Gary may not have what it takes to beat him." Brock suggested.

"Don't count him out." Leaf said.

* * *

"G…golem." The megaton pokemon grunted as it tried to get off the ground. Despite the resistance of rock-type pokemon to normal-type moves, the point black attack had significantly injured Golem as it was covered in scratches and limped around.

"Golem, we have to keep going!" Gary called out to it. "Use defense curl."

"Gol." The megaton pokemon said as it curled itself up into a ball and began glowing white. It immediately uncurled itself after the glow faded and prepared to face its opponent.

"Use earthquake!" Gary ordered.

"Goool…em!" The megaton pokemon shouted as it jumped in the air and quickly landed. Upon landing, it sent shockwaves through the ground which hit the iron armour pokemon. Aggron wailed in the pain of the powerful ground-type attack as its trainer watched in surprise.

"Aggron, get out of there!" Brendan shouted. "We can attack from another angle."

"_Typical." _Gary thought to himself. "Golem, rollout!"

"Lemmm…" The megaton pokemon shouted as it retracted its legs, arms and head and curled itself into a ball. The ball of Golem then began rolling quickly towards the stumbling Aggron which had its back turned to it.

"Aggron, use iron tail!" Brendan shouted.

"Aagg…" The iron armour pokemon snarled as its tail took on a silver glow. The rolling megaton pokemon was approaching closer and closer as Aggron spun in a 360 degree angle. "Ron!" It shouted as it flicked its tail at the rolling ball.

"Lem!" The ball of Golem screeched as it passed Aggron's glowing tail and toppled the iron armour pokemon by getting over the incoming tail and landed on Aggron's head. Aggron fell on its back while Golem landed on the tail of the iron armour pokemon and comically slipped as well.

* * *

"It's almost like Golem's trying to drag out the fight." Leaf suggested.

"But Aggron clearly wants to win it as fast as it can." Ash stated.

"_Just like its trainer."_ May thought to herself as she looked down at Brendan.

* * *

"Aggron! Get up!" "Golem! Get up!" Both trainers called out at the same time. Both pokemon struggled a little to get up as they finally did, they were mere feet from each other and staring the other down.

"Iron tail!" Brendan commanded.

"Magnitude, fast!" Gary ordered.

"Gol!" The megaton pokemon shouted as its body began glowing blue and it jumped into the air. Upon landing, it sent out heavy shockwaves which seemed to hurt Aggron even more than the earthquake from before as it had fallen in pain.

Now with Aggron back on the ground facing up to Golem with an angry look in its eye.

* * *

"Now Gary's got Brendan's pokemon on the ground." Ash observed.

"With a super-effective attack, Gary may just win this match." Leaf said.

* * *

"_Aggron, we didn't come all this way just to get fourth place and nothing to show for it!"_ Brendan thought to himself as he saw his pokemon on the ground looking up at the opponent. _"We need to win this match, here and now!"_

"Aaag." The iron armour pokemon grunted as it lay on the ground.

"_If I win this match, it'll prove that I still have talent as a battler."_ Gary thought to himself. _"I may not be a trainer anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm letting anyone else take me for a sucker."_

"Go…golem." The megaton pokemon said in between its heavy panting.

"Aggron, this is it!" Brendan called out to it. "Use hyper beam!"

"Golem, you use hyper beam too!" Gary commanded.

"Gronnnnn!" "Golemmmmm!" The two pokemon shouted as they fired orange beams of energy from their mouths at one another. Aggron fired its beam upwards at its opponent since it was lying on the ground while Golem's head was looking down while it fired its attack. The two beams of energy collided with one another with extreme force and neither seemed to let up.

* * *

"_Come on Brendan!" _May thought to herself.

"_Gary, don't give up."_ Dawn thought, almost as if she were trying to direct the words towards Gary.

* * *

The two pokemon kept firing at one another at point blank range with their beams trying to over power the other. The audience stared on at the amazing display of power while the cameras caught the blasts from the left angles, right angles, above, below and the centre and even behind the back as both pokemon began to weaken.

"Aggron!" Brendan shouted.

"Golem!" Gary shouted.

The two pokemon, hearing their trainer's calls, started roaring louder than ever. Their orange beams of energy became even bigger than before as the force of the two created an explosion, kicking great amounts of dust into the air.

* * *

"What's up with that!" Ash called out. "That extra boost."

"Brendan and Gary's determination was felt by their pokemon." Brock stated. "They're trying harder than ever."

"This is the moment that'll decide it all." Leaf added.

* * *

Back on the field, Tucker managed to stop coughing as the cloud of dust passed over the referee podium and began to clear over the battle field. The audience was flabbergasted by the sight on the field. Both Aggron and Golem had nearly lost consciousness and were lying on the field both of them struggling to get back to their feet.

"Aggron!" "Golem?" The two battlers called out simultaneously.

* * *

"Both of them are down." Brock calmly observed.

"_So what next?" _Ash thought.

* * *

"Well, isn't this surprising?" Tucker commented. "Both Aggron and Golem are down."

The audience started murmuring at Tucker's words. For a minute, it appeared that he was going to declare a draw but then, he held up his microphone as the cameras began focusing on him.

"Because this battle cannot be declared a draw, the first pokemon to rise will be declared the winner." He announced.

"So that's how it is?" Gary asked himself. "Golem!"

"Aggron, this is our last chance!" Brendan shouted.

"Agg." "Gol." The two pokemon grunted as they attempted to overcome their injuries and rise to battle one more time for the sake of their trainers. Aggron's larger body made it more difficult for it to get up while Golem couldn't get up either.

"_Aggron, I know I said we didn't come all this way just to get fourth place and nothing to show for it!"_ Brendan repeated in his head, trying to direct his thoughts at his pokemon. _"Even though I don't want you to get hurt, I still say we can win this match!"_

"_When I was a trainer, I was one of the most overconfident ever." _Gary thought to himself. _"Golem…you've been with me all the way back to Mt. Moon when you were a Geodude."_

* * *

"_Gary. Never give up." _Dawn was thinking, with her hands crossed.

* * *

"Give it your all one more time!" Gary shouted. "We may not battle much anymore, but you can always find the will to win!"

"Golemmmmmmmm!" The megaton pokemon screamed in great pride at Gary's words. It managed to stand up almost effortlessly despite struggling just a few moments ago. It looked over at its opponent Aggron and sent a smile at it which was, oddly, not received as a taunt by the iron armour pokemon but rather as an acknowledgement of the battle Aggron had put up. The iron armour pokemon then collapsed back to the ground as its trainer looked on in near absolute horror at what the scene.

"That's how it is." Tucker announced. "Third place in the Battle Spirits Tournament goes to GARY OAK!"

Wild cheers were heard from the crowd, waving ecstatically and whistling like crazy at Gary's victory. Brendan crashed to his knees, knowing that he was now out of the tournament, his pokemon having been beaten and no longer having a shot at a prize.

"_I can't believe it."_ He thought to himself. _"I'm…out."_

Just then, as he was looking at the ground, a pair of shoes appeared in front of his view. He looked up and noticed Gary looking down at him. The look on his face was not one of pride, but happiness. Happiness that he'd proven himself to be a worthy competitor to someone like Brendan.

"Come on." Gary said to the defeated Hoenn region trainer, extending his hand to him as he was still on the ground.

"You're one strange guy, Gary Oak." Brendan thought to himself as he took Gary's hand and got off the ground, earning the respect and cheers of the crowd.

Dome Ace Tucker, the acting referee of the tournament held up the crowd's cheers for just a minute so he could get in a few words. "That was among the most amazing battles I've ever witnessed in my life." He said. "I expected nothing less from the third place contenders of the Battle Spirits Tournament!"

* * *

"It was an awesome match, wasn't it?" Ash shrugged, looking at May and Dawn and their reactions.

"Yeah, those two are gonna be huge in this world one day." Brock said.

* * *

"Please join us four days from now for the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament, no doubt it will be _very, very interesting_!" Tucker said before he placed his microphone back on the stand.

With the audience's heavy applause, Tucker turned around and left the battle field. Gary and Brendan stared up from the ground at the audience circled around them. Whistles, cheers and claps were all audible to the two battlers.

"Let's go back up." Gary said to Brendan.

"I guess you're satisfied with this?" Brendan asked.

"Of course not." Gary laughed as he turned around. "It's gonna be Leaf's job, but I would've loved to kick Ash's butt."

"_You'd have loved to try." _Brendan thought as he followed his roommate and place holder.

* * *

"What did Tucker mean when he said it would be _very, very interesting_?" Ash asked.

"You don't think he was the one who told the papers about us?" Leaf suggested. "Do you?"

"How exactly would he have found out?" Brock asked them, making both of them stop in their tracks. "Did you even tell him?"

"Why else would he say it was gonna be interesting?" Ash asked.

"Maybe because it's the final battle we've all been waiting for." Brock reasoned. "Anyways, he probably read the papers just like the rest of us when he found out."

"I hope you're right." Ash told him.

Right then, Brendan and Gary approached the group as the rest of the audience was leaving. Dawn and May immediately ran and hugged their boyfriends as Ash, Leaf and Brock looked on. The two battlers who had put on an amazing show for the Battle Spirits Tournament looked at their friends with smiles on their faces as they soon joined up with them and exited the floor.

* * *

Back at Leaf's Vacation house, May and Brendan sat on the couch watching TV while everyone else went their own ways. With her boyfriend out of the tournament like her, May was free to spend as much time with him as she wanted which she did by watching TV with him and snuggling while nobody else was near.

Surprisingly, Brendan no longer seemed to be too upset at being out of the tournament.

"_I didn't get to win, but I got to have an awesome battle."_ May recalled him saying to her as they got back to the house a while ago. _"That's not exactly winning, but it's the next best thing."_

"_He's really changed throughout this tournament." _May thought to herself. _"At first he just wanted to win. Now, just a good match is enough for him."_

* * *

On the outside training field, it was neither Ash nor Leaf who was there, but Brock with a barbeque grill covered in various meats. He flipped several burgers as his Croagunk brought him a large bag of charcoal.

"Thank you, Croagunk." Brock said to his pokemon as he bent down and took the bag.

"Cro." The toxic mouth pokemon croaked as it turned around and walked over to the corner.

On the second floor of Leaf's vacation house, creaking noises could be heard coming from Dawn's bedroom and one could faintly hear a male voice yelling out in joy.

* * *

(The Next Day)

* * *

With only three days left till he was supposed to face Leaf, his girlfriend, in the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and his Pikachu got up early in the morning for what was, quite possibly, the first time they ever did.

On the outside training field, Ash and the raring-to-go Pikachu put a large rock in the middle of the field.

"Alright, Pikachu!" Ash called out. "Use volt tackle!"

"-KA!" The electric rodent repeated as its body was covered in yellow electricity and it charged towards the rock. With one jump and tackle, the rock was smashed to smithereens by the attack as Pikachu went back to Ash.

"Pika!" Pikachu cheered.

"Excellent job, Pikachu." Ash told it. "Now I think we should-"

"ASH!" A voice called out from somewhere else, cutting him off.

He couldn't see who was calling him so Pikachu immediately got on his shoulder and the two began looking around.

"People are tryin' to SLEEP in here!" The voice called out again.

"Uhh…yeah…alright." Ash said. "We're going."

"PikaPi?" The electric rodent asked.

"I guess we're disturbing someone." Ash told the mouse on his shoulder as he walked back into the house. "We'll train again in the afternoon."

"Piiiika." The electric rodent begrudgingly agreed.

"Come on." Ash told it. "Let's go eat."

On the inside, Ash and Pikachu ended up having to prepare their own breakfast for the first time since Brock was asleep and the helper pokemon were nowhere to be seen. Ash managed to scrape together bacon and eggs for himself and found a secret storage of pokemon food above the refrigerator to give to Pikachu. Both of them had something to drink after Brendan went crazy yesterday and brought several cases of hard lemonade, which were several cases and nine bottles more than he needed.

"Ash?" A voice asked from behind.

"Huh?" Ash said as he turned around in his chair. Pikachu looked up and they both noticed Leaf wearing her normal clothes looking at them. "Leaf?"

"When did you guys get up?" She asked.

"A while ago." He told her. If she didn't know that they were up, there's no way she could've been the voice that shouted at them outside. "Come on."

"Sure!" She exclaimed as she noticed the bacon and eggs on the stove.

She wasted no time getting a bottle of hard lemonade out of the fridge and on the table and putting some bacon and eggs in a plate. She immediately sat down on a chair next to Ash and began eating.

"Did you actually make this?" Leaf asked him.

"Yeah." Ash said. "How is it?"

"Meh." She shrugged.

"And here I was, thinking you liked me." Ash jokingly said with his eyebrows raised.

Leaf wasted absolutely no time pushing him playfully. "I do like you, you idiot."

"Pika." The electric rodent smiled, as did its trainer who got himself back into place and began eating again.

"You know Ash, we both managed to make the finals." Leaf said while putting the bacon strip in her hand back in her mouth.

"Yeah…I know." Ash said, hanging his head for some reason. "We both managed to keep our promise."

"And now…only one of us can win." Leaf said. "I do wanna win…"

"And I don't exactly want you to lose horribly." Ash said.

"So that's it?" She laughed. "You think you're gonna beat me horribly?"

"Anything's possible." Ash said, in a somewhat unconfident tone.

"PikaPi?"

"I hope you're wrong." Leaf smiled as she cleared the rest of her plate.

Leaf didn't say much to him after that, she just left the plate in the sink, running some water over it as she left the kitchen. Before she left, she looked back and took a look at Ash, who didn't even know she was still there, and Pikachu as she adjusted her hat and went back upstairs.

* * *

In the unknown time between the afternoon and the evening, long after everyone was finally awake, Ash had to wait for Leaf to finish her training on the outside field. He, Pikachu, Brendan, Gary and Dawn were on the couch watching TV while Brock and May went out shopping. Brock had scolded Brendan like he'd never scolded anyone before for spending so much money on the hard lemonade even though it was his own money in the first place.

"Are they ever gonna show us who the special guest is?" Brendan said after taking the bottle out of his mouth and gargling.

"Not likely!" Gary said, quickly grabbing the lemonade from Brendan's hand. "How many of these have you had?"

"Like…eight?" He shrugged.

"_No wonder Brock wanted to take away all the bottles." _Dawn thought to herself. _"He's addicted."_

Ash paid no attention to the goings on as he kept his head on the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling without a care in the world. There were exactly 493 holes in the ceiling tile that was directly above his head. He wondered when Leaf would finish training so he could go out and train with his pokemon for the upcoming battle.

All of a sudden, a smiling face appeared over his as he continued to stare up at the ceiling. It was Leaf, staring down at him.

"_Think of the devil."_ Ash thought while smiling.

"Feel free to go outside, Ash. I finished my training." She told him.

Ash immediately set his head straight and put his hands on his knees and got up off the couch as Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder. He took a turn around the rest of the gang, blocking Brendan's view of the TV and turned to Leaf.

"Thanks." He smiled at her.

* * *

On the outside training field, Ash and Pikachu looked on as Sceptile and Swellow trained together. Swellow job was to hit Sceptile with its wing attack while Sceptile would have to dodge its attacks. For a while, Swellow failed to hit the forest pokemon, who was able to jump high enough over Swellow to avoid the attack.

But then, Swellow started going faster after Sceptile dodged another attack. It made a quick u-turn and ran flew back. Sceptile had been preparing to land and had its back turned while in the air. Flying quickly, Swellow nailed the forest pokemon in the back with its wing attack before it could realize what was going on.

"Tiiiiile!" The forest pokemon screeched as it fell to the ground. With a crash, it had made an imprint of its body in the dirt.

"Sceptile!" Ash called out as he ran to his pokemon with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Swellow!" The pokemon called out as it landed.

"You're alright, aren't you, Sceptile?" Ash asked as he knelt down to help Sceptile get up.

"Scept." The forest pokemon grunted as it got back to its feet.

"Swellow, that was some serious power." Ash told it. "And you did really well too Sceptile, since you couldn't see the last attack."

"Swellow." "Sceptile." The two pokemon nodded.

"That's it for you two, today." Ash told them as he took out his pokeballs. "Return."

"Pika." The electric rodent said as it saw the two pokemon get covered in a bright red light and return to their pokeballs.

"ASH!" A voice called out to him from the distance.

"Huh?" Ash turned around, noticing Dawn at the entrance to the field. "What is it, Dawn?"

"You've gotta see this!" She told him. "Come inside!"

Pikachu hopped up onto Ash's shoulder as the raven haired trainer ran inside his house. In the living room, he noticed Gary, Dawn and Leaf sitting on the couch, staring intently at the TV. Evidently, May and Brock hadn't finished shopping yet.

"Check this out!" Gary told Ash, point to the TV as he said it.

* * *

"For those of you just tuning in, while reporting on the Olivine City lighthouse, we came across Miranda, a girl who participated in the preliminary round of the Battle Spirits Tournament." A television news reporter was saying. "She's been reporting to us about the goings on of the tournament contestants…behind the scenes."

* * *

"I've never seen her before." Ash commented.

"That's because she never got to the real battles." Leaf told him. "She was my partner in the first two preliminary rounds."

"Who's that shoulder next to her?" Ash asked as he pointed out what appeared to be someone's shoulder next to Miranda.

"I dunno." Gary said. "Maybe it the person who really got the behind the scenes information?"

"Behind the scenes?" Ash asked. "You don't think…"

"I didn't want to…but look at this."

* * *

"So as we know, you reported the juicy news about the two finalists, Ash Ketchum and Leaf Green, who happen to be carrying on a romantic relationship." The reporter said. "How did you come to know about it?"

"Miranda, you did what?" A voice asked from off screen.

"Well a thought came to me during the second preliminary round when I teamed up with Leaf." Miranda told the cameras. "She told me that there was someone tough she had to beat before she could win."

"A tough trainer?" The reporter asked. "So you knew she was talking about Ash Ketchum?"

"Well, after seeing the top 16 battle, I thought she might have been talking about Brendan Birch, since he was so tough." Miranda continued. "But then my boyfriend told me that Ash and Leaf were on a date at the Olivine City lighthouse and then I saw them sitting together in the stands and I knew it for myself."

"So Landon, you told her that?" The reporter asked as the camera shifted to a face that was all too familiar to Leaf and Ash. It revealed that the shoulder was Landon's, Ash's partner from the first two preliminary rounds and the guy they met in the Olivine City lighthouse just before the semi finals.

"Why would you tell everyone that!" He shouted at the girl next to him.

* * *

"Landon!" Ash exclaimed.

* * *

"He saw them there." Miranda said, patting Landon on the back as it to calm him down. "He said he took them to see Jasmine's Ampharos."

* * *

"Landon told his girlfriend and she leaked it!" Leaf exclaimed. "I let that psycho kiss my hand!"

"You did what?" Dawn asked.

* * *

"Miranda!" Landon shouted while on TV. "I thought I told you to keep Ash and Leaf's relationship a secret!"

"_You_ didn't keep it a secret." She retorted. "Not from me."

"I never promised to, I was only gonna tell you cause I tell you everything!" He said, the tone of his voice slightly more elevated then before. "But I told you not to tell anyone and now all of Olivine City and probably some other parts of Johto know about those two!"

"Well I…"

"Excuse me, Landon-" The reporter tried to interject before being cut off.

"I can't believe you do something like this!" He started shouting. "It's over!"

And with that, Ash's former partner turned his back to his ex girlfriend and the camera and walked off.

The gang was stunned by what they just saw. Gary was having a hard time holding back his laughter. Dawn kept watching the TV while Ash and Leaf turned to each other. It was clear that Landon didn't want to let everyone know about them, but his girlfriend had spilled the beans even after being told not to. The gang watched on as Landon exited the screen and soon disappeared.

* * *

"Getting dumped on TV." Gary laughed. "Now I've seen it all."

Ash started looking around. "Where's Brendan?"

* * *

(Several Hours Later)

* * *

It was now late in the evening. Ash and Leaf had been trying to get in touch with their former partners to hear the rest of the story, with no luck. Dawn and Gary explained everything to Brock and May, who returned a while later while Brendan turned out to have been upstairs during the whole ordeal. Ash later told him everything.

"That's crazy." Brendan commented.

"Sure is." Ash responded.

* * *

(The Next Day)

* * *

The early daylight hours had passed by so quickly. Neither Ash, nor Leaf had managed to contact Landon or Miranda yesterday and so planned they spent their day training. With only two days left, preparations had to be made.

It was around 1:00pm as Ash stood on the training field behind his Torterra, who bent its head over and launched a barrage of leaves at the wooden targets hanging from the trees. The powerful razor leaf attack shredded each and every target easily.

"Awesome job, Torterra!" Ash exclaimed. "When Leaf's water pokemon come out, we're gonna be ready!"

"Not quite that easy." A voice called out.

"What?" Ash asked as he turned around and noticed Gary standing behind him. "Gary?"

"If you think you can beat Leaf the way you beat Brendan, you're wrong." The future researcher told him.

"What are you talking about?" Ash accusatorially asked him.

"You beat Brendan because you were able to take the types of your pokemon into account and block Brendan's power." Gary told him. "But Leaf's gonna be a different story."

"Care to explain how?" Ash asked.

"You can't rely on pokemon types to win since Leaf can overcome that kind of disadvantage." Gary explained. "And she's pretty good at using type advantages as well."

He wasn't exactly wrong. Gary's Scizor lost to her Froslass even though it had a type advantage. Ash now had to rethink some parts of his strategy. He couldn't exactly avoid favorable match-ups for himself, but he needed backup plans in case they fail.

"I guess you're right." Ash admitted. "But how do I win without that kind of match up?"

"You're allowed to substitute pokemon in this round, use it to your advantage." Gary told him. "Remember the Silver Conference."

How could he forget? His Charizard defeated Gary's Scizor, Golem and Blastoise in a row. He beat three pokemon, two of which had an advantage against him. Was that was Gary had been referring to? He needs to use an intelligent strategy?

"Yeah." Ash curtly nodded. "I remember it."

"Me too." Gary smiled. "So keep it in mind when you're training, it'll do you some good."

"…Thanks, Gary." Ash smiled.

"Anytime, Ash." He responded. "But just one more thing, don't pull stupid stunts."

"Stunt?" Ash asked aloud before remembering what Tucker had told him. _"I can't believe I forgot!"_

* * *

Back inside, May, Dawn and Brendan watched the repeat telecast of the battle between Gary's Golem and Brendan's Aggron from two days ago. As much as he'd enjoyed the battle, losing and getting stuck in fourth place wasn't something he had expected, but as he kept telling himself, fourth place is better than losing in the preliminary rounds. He sat with his left arm behind his head, chugging the bottle of lemonade he held in his right hand. Neither girl paid attention to him before seeing it.

"Didn't Brock take away all your bottles?" Dawn asked.

"He's gonna have to be a lot quicker on his feet to pull one over Brendan Birch!" The Hoenn region trainer exclaimed.

"_And here I thought he was changing."_ May sarcastically thought to herself.

"So where did you hide them?" Dawn asked.

"They're hidden all over the place." Brendan laughed. "In the living room, the kitchen, the showers-"

"They aren't in the showers!" May shouted.

* * *

Upstairs, Leaf Green was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. One would think she was contemplating her strategy for defeating Ash in the finals, but something else was going through her mind. As she let out a sigh, the door to her room opened and a figure with spiky hair stood there.

"Gary?" She asked as she lifted her head up and saw the future researcher standing at the door.

"What's wrong?" Gary asked her. "You're usually training at this time."

"It's nothing." She said, putting her head back down. "I think I'll just let Ash go now and I'll do it later."

"You know…I was really surprised when I heard you'd given up your journey back in Kanto." Gary told her as he took a seat at the end of her bed..

She seemed surprised. "How'd you...oh…your grandfather I guess."

"Yeah." He nodded. "Why'd you do it?"

"My battles in Fuchsia City, Saffron City and Cinnabar Island were disasters." Leaf revealed. "I thought I didn't have what it takes."

"Disasters? But you competed in the Indigo League that year." Gary wondered. "I mean, Ash said he didn't see you, but I ran into you after the top 32 round."

"They were disasters because I couldn't get my head in it." She explained. "It took me three tries to win the soul badge and three tries to win the volcano badge."

"Well what about the marsh badge in Saffron City?" Gary asked.

"That witch-of-a-gym-leader turned me into a doll for losing the first time around." Leaf said, her voice getting slightly angrier. "I had to convince her to give me another chance and when she did, I had to go get some bug-type pokemon"

"Come on." Gary said while laughing and inciting Leaf's rage. "Turning people into dolls isn't possible."

"So I take it you didn't lose?" She asked.

"I was something of a hot shot trainer back then." He laughed. "I even had my own cheerleaders."

"I remember those freaks." She laughed.

"Hey, they weren't freaks." Gary sarcastically told her. "They were the closest things I had to girlfriends!"

"How sad."

"Well then, what made you get back into the game?" He asked.

"I just got tired of doing nothing and decided to go all the way." She revealed. "I got the rest of the badges by some stroke of luck and made it to the final 32 at the Indigo Plateau."

"Who'd you lose to?" Gary asked.

"Some nobody, I can't even remember his name, but he was some king of geek with a Pikachu like Ash's." Leaf explained. "After that, I went to Hoenn and started working even harder and I made it to second place in the Ever Grande Conference."

"Pretty impressive." Gary smiled. "I think Ash only ever made the top 8 there."

* * *

On the outside training field, since Leaf was not using it at her regular time, Ash and Pikachu took the opportunity to get their training done. Ash placed a rock in the middle of the field and stood at a distance as Pikachu got itself psyched.

"Ready, Pikachu?" Ash called out as Pikachu began running towards the rock. "Use iron tail!"

"Chuuu…" The electric rodent shouted as it jumped up in the air and turned its body in a 360 degree angle as its tail began to glow. It immediately shouted once more and smashed the rock to pieces. "Pika!"

"_We're gonna run out of rocks at this rate." _He thought to himself as he saw the rubble on the ground where Pikachu stood. "Good job, Pikachu."

"Pi-Ka." Ash's pokemon smiled.

* * *

(Several Hours Later)

* * *

At around 7:00pm that day, it had already gotten quite dark as Ash and Pikachu stood in the kitchen of Leaf's vacation house, struggling to look through the window which was the overseeing training field everyone used. Outside, Leaf and her Venusaur were practicing their moves, with Leaf standing a good distance behind her pokemon.

"Earthquake!" One could hear Leaf loudly shout even from inside.

The seed pokemon's immense legs allowed it to jump a few feet into the air and land with a heavy bang, sending shockwaves across the field and obliterating the grass in the distance. Ash and Pikachu looked through the window at the amazing display of power they'd just seen.

"That was one of the strongest earthquakes I've ever seen." Ash said in amazement.

"Pika." The electric rodent agreed in amazement.

In the living room, May and Brock were watching TV as Brendan ran downstairs in a fit. He wasn't wearing his hat, his hair was extremely messy and he was carrying a bottle of his hard lemonade.

"Did you guys hear that?" He asked as he finally descended the stairs, almost tripping over the last one and nearly dropping his lemonade bottle.

"Did we hear what, Brendan?" May asked.

"That sound!" He exclaimed. "It sounded like a tree crushing a car."

"We don't have cars." Brock said.

"Well yeah, _we_ don't." Brendan said, rolling his eyes. "But what was it."

"I think Leaf is practicing outside." May told him.

"W…wow." Brendan came out. "She seems even stronger than she was when she fought Gary."

"She's actually been practicing a whole lot." Brock explained. "So has Ash. They're both really psyched for the finals."

"That goes without saying." Brendan sarcastically laughed as he exited the house, chugging on his lemonade bottle.

"Brendan!" Brock shouted as he noticed the bottle of citrus.

Outside to the left of the front door to Leaf's vacation house was a dirt road leading into the main centre of Olivine City and the Battle Tower. Directly in front of it was a small hill the lead downwards. If you weren't careful when exiting the house, you'd fall.

Brendan sat down in the middle of the hill, his arms in back supporting him to make sure he wasn't going to fall down as he looked up at the night sky and saw the full moon reflecting off the ocean, just as it did three years ago.

* * *

(Littleroot Town, Hoenn Region)

(Three Years Ago)

* * *

A young boy by the name of Brendan Birch slept in his bed till around 11:30am. Normally he'd make himself get up early but today was different. It was his 10th birthday.

His father, Hoenn's leading pokemon researcher, Professor Birch had promised to let Brendan have his very first pokemon at noon on that day. He could choose from the selection available: a grass-type named Treecko, a fire-type named Torchic or the water-type named Mudkip. As he finally woke up at around 11:40am, he stretched his arms as he yawned and got out of bed.

He was quick to get himself cleaned up and dressed after he got up. He quickly grabbed a bottle of milk off the table and rushed out the door of his house.

His father lab was down the dirt road from his house and he was a pretty fast runner. He made it to the lab with time to spare as he barged in at 11:55am, getting the attention of the lab assistant.

"Good morning, Brendan." The assistant greeted him.

"Good morning, Igor." Brendan replied. "Is my father here?"

"He's in the back getting ready." Igor told him. "Today's the big day. Happy birthday, Brendan."

"Thanks, Igor." Brendan said as he saw his father enter the room with three pokeballs in his hands.

"Brendan, you're a little early, aren't you?" His father asked.

"Good morning to you too, dad." Brendan laughed.

"Oh…yeah." The forgetful professor laughed. "Good morning and happy birthday, Brendan."

"Thanks dad."

"Professor, I think you son is eager to have his first pokemon." Igor suggested.

"Of course." The professor said, putting two pokeballs on a nearby table and throwing one into the air. The red light that emerged from the opened pokeball turned into a small, green gecko-like creature with large yellow eyes.

"This one is Treecko, the grass-type." Professor Birch explained as he took another pokeball off the table and opened it.

This time, the red light that came from it turned into a small, orange chicken-lick creature with thin feet and a beak.

"This one is Torchic, the fire-type." Brendan's father said as he took the final pokeball off the table and opened it.

The pokemon that came from it this time was a blue, guppy-like creature. It had a fin on its head and was just a bit smaller than the other two choices.

"This is Mudkip, the water-type." The professor said. "These three are the starter pokemon available in the Hoenn region."

Brendan carefully looked over the three of them. This particular Treecko looked like it was bored while the Torchic honestly didn't look very impressive. Mudkip looked directly at Brendan, which resulted in a staring contest between the two which Brendan lost almost immediately as he soon went up to see Mudkip closer.

"Dad, what do they evolve into?" Brendan asked as he stood next to it.

"Well, first they evolve into Grovyle, Combusken and Marshtomp and then they become a Sceptile, Blaziken and Swampert." The professor explained.

"So are they always just one elemental type of pokemon?" He asked.

"You see, when Torchic becomes Combusken it becomes part fighting-type and when Mudkip becomes Marshtomp, it becomes part ground-type as well." Professor Birch told him. "But Treecko will remain a grass-type as it evolves into Grovyle and Sceptile."

"_A ground-type and a water-type in one."_ Brendan thought to himself. _"That'd be almost invincible."_

Fighting-type pokemon were strong, sure, but they had a lot of weaknesses. Ground-types were immune to electricity and the water-type could cover their weakness to ice-types. The only remaining problem would be grass-types and they could always work on that. One final look into Mudkip's eyes was all he needed to be sure of his choice.

"Dad. I choose Mudkip." Brendan proudly stated.

"Mudkip is a fine choice, Brendan." Igor said as he handed the professor some items.

"Brendan, come here." Professor Birch told his son who listened and approached him. "Being a trainer takes dedication, hard work, intelligence and above all, you need to treat your pokemon well."

"Yes, dad."

"I know you'll be an excellent trainer one day, son." The professor said as he game Brendan five pokeballs, a pokedex and a bag which seemed to be heavily wrapped. "Congratulations Brendan, your life with pokemon begins now."

"Mudkip!" The mud fish pokemon cheered.

* * *

(Ten Hours Later)

* * *

It was now 10:00pm that same day. Brendan had already managed to somehow make it to Oldale Town wearing the new shoes which happened to be in the bag given to him. They were a special pair of running shoes made by the Devon Corporation and allowed him to run, jump and glide on the ground at exceptional speeds as his faithful Mudkip followed him.

Mudkip was proving to be a very energetic and proud pokemon, celebrating whenever it won a battle, though it had only fought once that day. Still, it listened to Brendan's commands without hesitation and walked next to him as they walked along the Oldale River at night, they were the only ones in the vicinity.

"Mudkip, I think we should get a room at the pokemon centre for tonight." Brendan told it.

"Mud." The mud fish pokemon nodded in agreement.

"I think there's one where his river ends." Brendan said as he looked to his left and saw the Oldale River stretch out ahead of him and lead to the oceans surrounding Hoenn. "Let's go!"

As Brendan and Mudkip ran further down the path, the river started widening as it got closer to the oceans and they got closer to the pokemon centre. At a point where the pokemon centre was now in sight and the river met the ocean, Brendan and Mudkip ran the final leg of their journeys first day.

All of a sudden, Brendan noticed that ripples were developing in the river. He and Mudkip turned to see what was going on as a series of large waves were sent through the river and just over the wave; one could see a blue fin.

The waves soon dissipated and just as he and the mud fish pokemon were about to turn away, something caught their attention.

Out of the area in the ocean where the wave dissipated, a very large blue whale-like pokemon with red markings on its side fins was jumping out of the water and into the night sky like a dolphin.

"Is that what I think it is?" Brendan asked his Mudkip.

"Mud!" The mud fish pokemon exclaimed.

The large blue pokemon descended back into the ocean after it had reached the height of its jump, leaving Brendan and Mudkip looking on in amazement at the moon reflecting off the ocean, knowing that beneath it was resting a legendary pokemon.

"Kyogre." Brendan said, almost as if he were in a trance.

* * *

(Outside Leaf's Vacation House, Olivine City)

(Present Day)

* * *

"_It was just over three years ago."_ Brendan was thinking to himself_. "I can't believe how much everything's changed since then."_

As the Hoenn region trainer looked up at the night sky and its reflection in the oceans surrounding Olivine City, he realized that it was identical to that same night he saw the legendary pokemon.

Thinking back to those days reminded him of how much he'd changed with his accomplishments, Battle Tower records, wins and…meeting May but also of how much he had to grow.

"_This competition is just one of the many." _Brendan thought to himself.

Thinking those thoughts, he got up and scooped a small, round rock into his hand. Pulling his rock-holding hand back, he suddenly jerked it forward and let the rock go and travel what appeared to be a mile till ripple waves were made in the distant water surrounding Olivine as the rock landed in the ocean and sunk to the depths.

He then turned around and looked up at the moon which appeared to be directly over Leaf's vacation house and smiled before going inside; know knowing his future plans and what he was meant to do.

"_My life's like the night and before it's through, I will be a winner."_

* * *

Rayquaza45: So...that last line sucks. Also, I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I had my reasons. But I really hope you guys liked it and so whether you did or didn't, please review and tell me what you liked or what you didn't and let me know how I can improve. Please :)

Next time: **Chapter 18: Leaf Green and Fire...Ash!**

The finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament begin. Ash and Leaf, boyfriend and girlfriend, forced to do battle. What will the outcome be?

Stay tuned! Remember to review :)


	18. Leaf Green and Fire Ash!

**I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVE!****  
**

Rayquaza45: Hello there readers. It certainly has been forever, hasn't it? Well, technically it's been 294 days...or 42 weeks...or 9 3/4 months since the last update.

I know I let a lot of you guys down with the lack of updates. Certainly, I planned for this story to be finished in 2010 itself or by New Years leading into 2011 or May 2011 at the latest but laptop crashes, course work, the release of several movies and other factors led to this delay.

Of course, if any of you have read my Haruhi Suzumiya/Maid Sama crossover fic 'To Go Beyond Melancholy', you'll know that I have at least been online. If there are any fans of those series, I suggest you go read that fic since it's the only crossover fic between those two series on this site.

To tell the truth, I planned THIS story to be 20 chapters but it's now gone on to 21. This is the 18th chapter and so after this, we've still got three more to look forward to. Don't worry, they're mostly done and so I guarantee that there won't be another delay like this.

Of course, given this delay, you may want to refresh your memory of this story and read previous chapters so this chapter flows smoothly in your mind.

Thanks to Gerbilftw for beta reading this chapter, and the others too.

So I hope you guys aren't so mad at me for the delay such that you will refrain from reviewing...? I know it was messed up but still, I wanna read your thoughts (unbiased and non-flaming thoughts) just like any writer here.

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any aspect of it.

* * *

**Chapter 18 Leaf Green and Fire...Ash!**

For Ash Ketchum, only one day remained before he would battle Leaf Green, his girlfriend and the one he's liked since he was a child. The Battle Spirits Tournament, which had started as a competition which he'd entered with his friends Brock, Dawn and Gary soon became a life-altering event where he met up with his old friend May, her boyfriend Brendan and, of course, Leaf. I just a few short weeks, he had ended up learning things about his friends which he'd never known before. Thinking about life in ways he had never really done before and bonded with his pokémon.

It was now around 2:00pm and with a little less than 24 hours left before he had to begin one of the biggest battles of his life, Ash stood in the training field in the back of Leaf's vacation house facing the six pokemon he was going to use in the finals.

"Basically, we've come a long way and tomorrow, we reach the final stretch." He told them.

The six pokemon cheered loudly at Ash's words. All of them were clearly excited about the finals and the prospect of battling Leaf's pokemon the next day.

"Take the day off," He said. "Cause we need to be ready for tomorrow."

With that, Ash recalled all of them to their pokeballs except Pikachu, who climbed onto his shoulder as he put his pokeballs back on his belt and turned around to go back inside. But when he turned, he noticed Brendan, Gary and Dawn coming out.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Ash asked as he noticed all of them staring at him in a curious manner.

"Pikaka!" The electric rodent cheered.

"Ash, are you ready for tomorrow?" Dawn asked him.

"I'm fine." He told them as if they should've already known. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, dude." Brendan told him as he crossed his arms. "Why? Do you think something's wrong?"

"No, really, I've just been out here giving pep talks and getting psyched for tomorrow." Ash explained.

"Isn't this the first time you've ever made it to the finals of a big tournament?" Dawn asked.

It was true. He'd made the top 16 in Kanto, the top 8 in Johto and Hoenn and the top 4 in Sinnoh. He'd won the Orange League and the Battle Frontier, but they weren't exactly styled along the ways of a tournament.

"It is." Ash acknowledged as he clenched his fist. "And tomorrow is when it happens and I'm gonna win it."

"Well, that's when it all comes to a close." Gary stated as he crossed his arms.

"I know." Ash said as a familiar tree branch caught his eye which he then pointed to. "Remember when we first got here?"

"Sure do." "Yeah" Were Brendan and Gary's responses to seeing the sliced off tree branch which Brock had once climbed for less-than-wholesome reasons.

"What happened?" Dawn asked, looking at the three guys. "Did I miss it?"

The girls never did find out that Brock tried to watch them when they were in a hot tub in their bikinis or that Ash's Sceptile sliced off the tree branch he was hanging on and made him fall to the ground. He wasn't seriously hurt, aside from his pride.

"Brock just tried to saw off a dead tree branch and he fell." Brendan said, trying to come up with the best lie possible.

"When?" She asked.

"When we first got to Olivine and met each other." Brendan explained. "Just before the tournament started."

"I see." Dawn nodded. "At least he didn't get hurt, right?"

"Yeah he was fine." Brendan told her.

"Man that feels like so long ago," Gary realized. "And the finals are tomorrow."

"Should be an interesting day." Brendan said, looking at the sky. "But after that, I'm heading back to Hoenn."

"After that?" Ash pondered.

"Yeah, _after that_." He enunciated. "Why? How long were you planning to stick around here?"

Admittedly, he hadn't thought about it. He'd been so focused on training for the tournament and practicing for the stunt that he hadn't considered that he'd be doing after the tournament was over since he would have nowhere to go but home, just like before the tournament.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"What was it you were gonna do before the tournament began?" Dawn asked him.

"Nothing." Ash bluntly told her, surprising her somewhat. "I'd been in my house for two weeks, not doing anything till I found out about the tournament on TV and came here."

"And I'm sure you're glad that you did." She laughed.

Gary nodded. "Truthfully, nothing you did back in Pallet Town was very productive."

"Well, I did…I…uhm…there." He came out.

He was happy to have come, of course, but truthfully, those two weeks he'd spent at home hadn't been very productive. He hadn't decided which league to challenge so he was just biding his time. Eventually, he'd seen the commercial advertising the tournament with Gary and Dawn and he ended up coming to Olivine to compete, with Brock joining them along the way.

"Yeah, that's a real adventure." Brendan sarcastically commented before breaking into a hysterical laughter.

Ash then turned to Dawn and Gary. "Why did you wanna talk about this?" He asked.

"Nothing big, but for Leaf…." Gary hesitated. "Now that you're…"

"Together?" Dawn finished the sentence for him.

"Yes, thank you." Gary sarcastically responded before going back to normal. "But I was wondering where you wanted to go from here."

"Well…I kinda haven't thought about it." Ash scratched his head. "I've just been so focused on the tournament, I haven't really been thinking about much else."

"How typical." Gary snidely remarked.

"I was gonna go back to Pallet Town, but that's about as far as I got." He said.

"Well then…" Dawn said as she turned around. "We're just gonna have to work on that afterwards."

"You're not gonna do anything are you?" Ash asked.

"Well…uh…." She snickered. "…No."

With that, the three of them took their leave and went back inside as Ash and Pikachu stayed outside.

"I'm gonna go get something to eat." Ash said. "Let's go, Pikachu."

"Pika!" The electric rodent cheered.

As Ash and Pikachu went inside from the outside training field, the first room their entered was the kitchen where May, Brock and Leaf were working on something.

"Allow me!" A gleeful May said as she took a plate out of the refrigerator and handed it to Leaf.

"Thank you." Leaf said as she accepted the plate from May and took it back to the counter, but accidentally losing her footing and nearly dropping it.

"Careful!" Brock exclaimed.

"Don't be such a worry wart." Ash said, shrugging off Brock's fear.

"Ash?" Brock was clearly surprised to see him.

"Are you done with your training for today?" May asked.

"Tomorrow's the finals. I'm not training today, I wanna let Pikachu and the others rest."

"Leaf said the same thing." May said. "You two are a lot alike."

The comment made both Ash and Leaf blush for a moment, something which Pikachu took notice of but didn't draw attention to. Ash then got a thought in his head and started getting little nervous.

"Uhh…Leaf." Ash nervously came out.

"Yes?" She asked, smiling.

"Tomorrow's the finals." He said.

"I know." She giggled. "We're battling each other."

"Well…" He started. "I'd say good luck…but I really wanna win."

Leaf was wondering whether it was best to laugh at what Ash just said or to just ignore it. It was a rather strange thing to say.

The raven haired trainer went upstairs with the electric rodent on his shoulders as Leaf and Brock were still in the kitchen snickering over Ash's words while Brendan, Gary and Dawn had presumably left the house.

"_Ash and Leaf. Brendan and May. Gary and Dawn."_ Brock thought to himself as he carried some plates. _"I guess I'm the only one left."_

Inside Ash's room, the raven haired trainer was rummaging through his large suitcase as Pikachu looked on in confusion.

"PikaPi?" The electric rodent asked.

"It's gotta be in here somewhere!" Ash exclaimed, ignoring Pikachu. "I packed it with the other one!"

On his bed, various clothes were scattered along with toothbrushes and combs. Ash began to get a little furious and gritted his teeth as he began rummaging even more before finally seeing a familiar green symbol.

"I found it!" He cheered.

* * *

(Battle Tower, Olivine City)

(The Next Day)

* * *

On the 70th floor of the Olivine City Battle Tower, the stage was set for the final and biggest battle of the tournament. Ash Ketchum would battle Leaf Green.

The audience's stands were filled to capacity as literally thousands of fans showed up to watch the matches. Unlike before, they were arranged in a circular order around the field, which was round and was several meters below the lowed level of seats.

The field was a large dirt arena. It was brown with white lines dividing the field between the two battlers. Around the walls of the field were the multi-angle cameras showing everything on the field, protected by a layer of thick material which was said to be impossible to penetrate.

Near the middle of the rows was where Ash and Leaf's friends sat. In one row there was Brock, Dawn, Gary, May and Brendan with unknown people sitting next to Brendan and Brock.

"Even though we're Ash's friends, these are the best seats they give us?" Brendan muttered.

"You should be glad we're not in the upper deck." Dawn told him.

A camera crew was present near the referee's box, which was fixed to the wall and was several feet about the field, requiring a ladder to get onto. The camera crew had finished setting up for the event and was just screening the field for the live telecast since the referee had yet to arrive and since he wasn't there, Ash and Leaf couldn't be called out yet.

The biggest change from previous rounds was the roof. Indeed, since the 70th floor was the highest in the Olivine tower, a sky roof was added so that flying-type pokemon could use their full potential. The roof was open as the sun shined down brightly on the field and the members of the audience, making several of them reach for the sunscreen.

"_This place is huge!"_ Gary thought to himself.

Elsewhere in the stands, three people sat perched to watch. They were the three tournament contestants who had already been knocked out of the contest: Jackson, Marina and Jimmy.

At the very top of the stands, which was quite far up from the bottom, a familiar trainer who'd battled Ash in the top 8 round sat perched in his seat, ready to watch the boy who'd beaten him.

* * *

(Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region)

* * *

At a house with a red rooftop, a boy with purple hair sat on a couch in front of his TV. The walls of the room were tiled white with a golden trim around a desk showcasing several league badges.

As the boy watched the TV intently, almost angry at it for not starting the fight yet, another boy, older than the one on the couch, walked in carrying a Starly on his elbow.

"So, Paul, who's your money on?" The older boy asked the younger one. "Ash, who knocked you out of the Sinnoh League or the girl who knocked you out of the Hoenn League two years ago?"

"Don't talk to me about that!" He snapped.

* * *

(Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh Region)

* * *

At a house located by the side of the road, a lady with purple hair was sitting on her couch watching TV along with two other people. One was a tall man with blonde hair wearing a green jacket and the other was a teenager with the same blonde hair wearing a shirt with orange and white stripes.

"Gla?" A small cat-like pokemon purred as it entered the room and curled up in front of the three humans, blocking the TV.

"Glameow, come now." The lady said to her pokemon, which immediately left the TV area and perched itself next to the couch.

* * *

(LaRousse City, Hoenn Region)

* * *

Three trainers were watching a TV in the lobby of the Battle Tower located in the super high-tech metropolis known as LaRousse City.

One of the three trainers had brown hair and wore a long, dark green jacket over a purple shirt and crème coloured pants. Another was an overweight boy with ginger hair wearing an orange and red garb. The third was a boy with light brown hair and wore a purple shirt with pink coverings on the shoulders and white pants.

Behind them were three pokemon which were watching the match as well: a Sceptile, a Swampert and a Blaziken.

* * *

(Olivine City, Johto Region)

* * *

Inside the living room of a fancy villa located near the coastline of Olivine City, a man with short blue hair sat on a sofa watching TV. Sitting next to him was a girl with long brown hair.

On the floor, also watching the TV was an Aron.

* * *

(Cerulean City, Kanto Region)

* * *

The camera panned over the arena, showing the audience, the field and the box where the referees would be.

"Come on…" An orange haired girl muttered as she carefully watched the television, hoping to see her old friend become the victor.

* * *

(Pallet Town, Kanto Region)

* * *

In the laboratory of Professor Samuel Oak, Delia Ketchum, mother of the finalist Ash Ketchum, sat on the couch along with her trusty Mr. Mime, Professor Oak himself and the assistant to the professor, Tracey Sketchit.

"Mime, mime mi!" The barrier pokemon exclaimed.

"Don't worry Mimey," Delia told it. "It's going to end exactly how it should."

* * *

(Battle Tower, Olivine City)

* * *

Back at the Battle Tower, the door on the referee stand opened up and not one, but two people walked through it. One was Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier who had been the acting referee for the rounds so far and the other one came as a surprise to everyone in attendance.

It was Wallace, the champion of the Hoenn Region who had advertised for the tournament but hadn't made an appearance since the preliminaries ended. Wearing the same outfit he wore for the Wallace Cup event held in Sinnoh's Lake Valour, he and Tucker stood at the furthest most point of the referee stand, eliciting wild cheers from the thousands of spectators as they waved to them.

"Hello, my friends." Wallace said as he waved to the audience. "It's wonderful to be here once again after my brief visit!"

"Are you ready to start the finals?" Tucker said, also waving his hand.

The audience started cheering even louder to show their enthusiasm. As to Ash's friends, the noise was starting to hurt Gary's ears. Even Dawn and May were cheering for the battle to start as they saw Wallace put his hand up to say something.

"I know you are all eager to start the finals, but we have something else to do before we get there." Wallace announced.

"What would that be, Wallace?" Tucker asked in the fakest possible voice, clearly trying to build up suspense.

"Did we not announce that a special guest would be joining us?" Wallace asked in a similar fake manner.

"We certainly did." Tucker nodded as both of the turned to the open sky roof, causing everyone in the audience to look up as well. Even the cameras began to focus on the sky as well.

"He's here." Both Tucker and Wallace said with lasting emphasis on the second word.

In the endlessly far, clear, blue sky with very few clouds and a bright and shining sun, a small figure which was so far away that it looked like a dot was visibly approaching the Battle Tower at an amazing speed.

Murmurs in the audience were deafening as everyone was wondering what was coming towards them. It wasn't a bird and was too damn small to be a plane. Tucker and Wallace clearly knew what it was since they were both smiling as it made its final turn and was now hovering over the field.

As the figure was flying in circles over the field, some part of it separated from the rest and plummeted towards the ground at an incredible rate with something resembling a two foot wing span. It almost looked like a descending from above.

Strangely, it began spinning around as it was just barely a few dozen feet above the referee podium. It was still too small to clearly see it from a distance and was spinning and falling too fast for the cameras to get a clear shot of it with their focus lenses.

When the figure finally landed, it was clear that it was a human but he/she had their back turned and was facing the ground so it was impossible to identify who it was. There was absolute silence as they stood up and turned around, allowing the cameras a full view and letting the audience see…him.

The man had red hair and wore black boots and a blue uniform-like suit underneath a cape. The audience went wild at seeing him as he took a spot between Tucker and Wallace.

Lance, the dragon-type pokemon trainer and the champion of the Johto region had arrived.

* * *

"It's Lance!" Dawn exclaimed.

"I guess that means…" Brock started.

"He was the special guest for the finals!" Gary finished.

* * *

On the referee podium stood Lance, champion of the Johto region. On his left was Wallace, champion of the Hoenn region and on his right was Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier. The three of them had never before been seen in the same area so for them to have gathered here was truly a testament to the prestige of the tournament.

Wallace and Tucker took a step back as Lance took a step forward and grabbed the microphone off its stand. His presence was almost intimidating and his composure made him look even more authoritative than ever before, so much so that the entire audience didn't make a peep.

"Welcome to the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament." His tone seemed so different from the way he usually spoke, which May and Brock noted. "We've gathered here for an exciting day and what is sure to be one of the most amazing battles we will ever witness."

Following his words, Lance's Dragonite, which was the pokemon he had flown in on, descended to the field for no apparent reason, though Lance clearly knew why. It stood up in the middle of the field, between the green and red doors from which Ash and Leaf were later meant to enter from.

"Well then," He started with a more enthusiastic tone. "Are you ready to get on with it?"

The audience lit up at the question and began cheering and Lance cracked a smile along with Tucker and Wallace.

"Alright then, we begin!" He exclaimed. "Will the red trainer, Leaf Green, please enter the battle arena!"

The large red door opened up from the bottom automatically. But nothing came out immediately. Soon, heavy stomps could be heard. They got louder and louder as whatever was making them was getting closer. Soon the sound was clearly heard as, from under the red door, Venusaur walked onto the field.

The audience, and even the three men on the referee stand, was caught off-guard by what the seed pokemon was carrying on its vines. With seemingly no effort at maintaining her balance, Leaf Green was standing on the green vines of her pokemon.

* * *

"What the heck is she doing!" May screeched.

"It seems unlikely that Leaf would do something like this for nothing." Gary observed. "This must be it."

"Must be what?" Brock asked.

"Her grand entrance."

* * *

The seed pokemon made its way to the red trainer's section of the field and stood in place. Leaf seemingly had no problem maintaining her balance, which was strange given that she was standing on just two thin vines. She then looked down at her pokemon and nodded, which was received by it.

What happened next surprised everyone in the audience, the gang and even Wallace. The cameras were now displaying her and her pokemon in full.

"Veeeeena…" The seed pokemon said as it carefully lowered its vines.

"Do it!" Leaf shouted.

"Saur!" Venusaur shouted as it flung its vines up, sending Leaf flying straight into the air.

She was around thirty feet above the field as the audience, cameras and the three trainers on the referee podium saw her turn around and face her pokemon from up in the air. Venusaur hunched down further and began shooting its razor leaf attack at its trainer just as she had reached the height of her flight and had begun her descent.

As the leaves got closer to her, it was clear that they would pass under her, but what was surprising was that Leaf actually used them to get back to the ground. She began stepping on them as she got further and further down. It was almost like she was jumping on clouds and descending from the sky.

When she was just a few feet above the ground, Venusaur released its vines one final time in a long stretch and swiped the ground in Leaf's landing zone, sending dust into the air and covering Leaf as she approached.

The cloud of dust on the field made it impossible to see since Venusaur and Leaf were inside it. When the dust finally cleared, Venusaur stood proud behind its owner, who had landed and had struck a pose similar to Ash when he issued a command. The entire audience cheered at her stunt, impressed with her acrobatic ability and noting the preparation time she obviously took.

* * *

"Well…it wasn't that impressive." Brendan commented with his arms crossed.

"What's wrong?" May asked him. "You didn't like it?"

"Eh."

"_How typical."_ Brock thought to himself. _"Must be the lemonade."_

* * *

"Well now, wasn't that amazing?" Lance spoke, his voice booming through the microphone. "A fantastic performance by the red trainer who has obviously put a great deal of effort into it!"

Lance then took a look behind him and nodded at Wallace, who nodded back, reached into his pocket and took out what appeared to be a small box with a red button on it and pressed it as Lance raised the microphone back to his face.

"And now…" He said, dragging out his words. "Will the green trainer, Ash Ketchum, please enter the battle arena!"

Several minutes passed and absolutely nothing happened. Leaf was clearly getting irritated with the wait as was everyone else. Wallace began frantically pushing his red button several more times, fearing that it may have been broken.

After a few more minutes, door to the green preparation room flung open and a figure could be seen. It was clearly a person but the light had yet to illuminate them.

With its head flung down and a pokémon on its shoulder, the figure was illuminated by the light and revealed a boy wearing a blue and white jacket with gold trim worn open over a black t-shirt with jeans, sneakers, green fingerless gloves, and a red and white hat bearing a green symbol on the front. The pokémon was a Pikachu, the electric rodent pokémon.

As he lifted his head, his face could clearly be seen thanks to the cameras. It was Ash Ketchum, the green trainer and finalist of the Battle Spirits Tournament. His faithful Pikachu was on his shoulder and waved to the crowd as Ash continued to march forward.

He went onto his side of the field and looked around. He was feeling confident but nothing could've prepared him for what happened next.

Almost the entire audience started booing him and shouting rude things to him. His friends in the audience were also caught off guard by the hundreds of spectators screaming at him, and even Leaf didn't seem to know what to do as she covered her face in embarrassment.

"What kind of stunt was that!" "Loser!" "Wuss!" "Why would Leaf date _you_!" "Go, Leaf!" Were just among the many insults hurled at the raven haired trainer who started feeling a little uneasy. It took the force of Lance clearing his voice in the microphone for them to subside.

"_All because I didn't want them to see him just yet."_ Ash thought as he looked around.

Up in the audience, the gang was going over the scene.

* * *

"That was just plain sad." Dawn commented.

"He needed to do a stunt and wusses out of it..." Gary laughed. "I didn't think even _Ash_ could do _that_."

"I bet Leaf's performance is looking really good now, huh?" May said as she turned to her boyfriend.

* * *

"Well now, I'm sure that was intended to at least _look _cool." Lance said after the audience had calmed down.

"_No doubt."_ Ash thought to himself.

"I will be the referee for this final round!" Lance announced. "Now then, can both trainers take their positions on the field?"

Ash brought Pikachu to his side and Leaf recalled Venusaur into its pokéball and thanked it for a job well done on its part. Both trainers stood in the area designated for pokémon trainers as they stared down one another. The tension was thick, not a sound was heard as Ash and Leaf stood still, waiting for the battles to begin as Pikachu closed his eyes and began to prepare himself.

"This battle will be a one-on-one battle format with each trainer allowed to use six pokemon!" Lance announced, speaking extremely fast. "After either trainer loses three pokemon, we shall take an intermission. The battle ends if either trainer gives up or all six of their pokémon are knocked out. Ash and Leaf, do you acknowledge?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Both of you must now remove a pokéball from their holding spots in preparation for the battle." Lance declared.

Leaf took a pokeball out of her bag while Ash took one off his belt. It had been a while since he'd attached his pokéballs to his current outfit. It reminded him of the old times in Kanto when he just was a rookie. Pikachu also got itself into a fighting stance despite the fact that it was clear that it would not be battling right away.

"Release your pokémon!" Lance instructed.

Ash tossed out his pokéball with his right hand. "It's go time!"

"Fight for us!" Leaf shouted as she threw her pokéball.

On Ash's side came his Infernape, the fully-evolved fire-type starter from the Sinnoh region. The flames on its head burned brightly as the flame pokémon prepared for battle.

On Leaf's side came her Froslass, the ice-type pokémon and evolution of Snorunt. Froslass had been seen before in the tournament against Gary in the semifinals and, like before, was sent out first.

"Both trainers have released their first pokémon and so I now declare the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament…officially underway!" Lance announced. "Let the final battle BEGIN!"

"Infernape, use flamethrower!" Ash ordered.

"Infernaaaaaaa…" The flame pokémon exclaimed as it tightly clenched its fists and released a reddish-orange stream of fire from its mouth at its opponent.

Leaf was not worried about Ash making the first move, nor about Infernape having a type advantage. She had overcome difficult situations before. "Dodge it!" Leaf instructed her pokémon.

"Fross." The snow land pokémon shrilled as it effortlessly glided out of the path of the flamethrower. Though Infernape turned its head repeatedly, the flame pokémon could not get its attack to hit Froslass despite its many attempts before having to end the attack.

"Infernape, get in the air!" Ash told it.

"Infer!" The flame pokémon shouted as it used its nimbleness to quickly get into the air above Froslass and make its descent.

"Use mach punch!" Ash shouted out.

"Inferaaappppp…" The fully evolved fire-type from Sinnoh screamed as its eyes took on a yellow glow and both of its fists began to glow light blue as it prepared to clock its opponent.

"How foolish" Leaf smugly commented.

As Infernape thrust its first forward, Froslass disappeared from view, causing the flame pokémon to punch the ground instead. The snow land pokémon quickly reappeared behind Infernape without the latter even noticing.

"Infernape, get out of there!" Ash called out to it.

"Use attract!" Leaf told her pokémon.

"Fross." The snow land pokémon hummed as it winked at Infernape and multiple yellow hearts were released from its body. When the attack hit, the flame pokémon's eyes were replaced with hearts, signifying that it had fallen in love with Froslass.

"Oh Ash," Leaf sarcastically spoke. "Did you forget that fighting-type moves have no effect on ghost-type pokémon?"

"_Darn it!"_ Ash cursed. _"I was so fixated on Froslass's ice-type that I completely forgot about its second type. I wonder if I should switch to-"_

"Froslass, use thunderbolt." Leaf commanded.

"Dodge it, Infernape!" Ash urgently told it.

"Frooooossslaasss…" The snow land pokémon screeched as it released a large bolt of yellow electricity from its body at the immobilized flame pokémon, hitting it directly and sending it flying across the field.

"Infernape, no!" The raven haired trainer exclaimed.

"In…infer…" The flame pokémon muttered as it stood back on its two feet.

"_This is really turning into a harder fight than I thought, even with a type advantage."_ Ash thought to himself.

"Froslass, let try ice beam!" Leaf told it.

"Frooo…" The snow land pokémon shrilled as it formed a blue ball in front of its mouth and fired several beams from it at the flame pokémon.

"Infernape, flame thrower!" Ash worriedly shouted.

Rather than attack, the flame pokémon stood still and was hit by the blue beams, causing it to freeze over. The reluctance to attack was due to its infatuation with Froslass. The frozen block containing Infernape stood still, somehow containing the fire on its head as Froslass approached closer.

"Thunderbolt!" Leaf called out.

"Frooooossslaasss…" The snow land pokémon screeched as it released a large bolt of yellow electricity from its body and nailed the ice block with the flame pokémon inside it, shattering it and sending Ash's pokémon flying through the air before crashing back to the ground.

"Infernape, are you alright?" Ash asked his pokémon.

"In…nfer." The flame pokémon muttered as it struggled to get back to its feet.

"Let's try another ice beam, Froslass." Leaf said to her pokémon.

"Frooo…" The snow land pokémon shrilled as it formed the blue ball in front of its mouth.

"Infernape, you have to try another flamethrower!" Ash told the fire-type.

"Infernaaaaaaa…" The flame pokémon grumbled as it tightly clenched its fists and released its flames just as Froslass released its blue beams.

"Frooo…" "Inferrr…" The two pokémon shouted as the blue ice beam and the reddish-orange flames battle one another. Worst case scenario: the ice beam turns the flamethrower into a frozen fire. Of course, it was impossible and with some effort, the flame pokémon's attack managed to overpower the snow land pokemon's attack with its own.

"Froslass, get out of there!" Leaf exclaimed.

Following orders, the snow land pokémon glided away just as the flamethrower passed the area where it was standing. The ground turned a darker shade of brown while Froslass remained completely unharmed.

"Infernape, the attract is gone!" Ash shouted. "Hit it with flare blitz!"

"Inferrr…" The flame pokémon shouted as its body became surrounded by red-orange fire as it shot itself at the snow land pokémon like a guided missile. "AAAAAAPPE!" It screamed as it slammed its fire-covered body into its opponent with great force.

"Frosssssss…" The snow land pokémon shouted in pain as it was sent flying across the field before landing back on the ground with bruises all over its body.

"Froslass, are you alright!" Leaf asked her pokémon.

"Fff…fross." The snow land pokémon answered as it got back up.

"_Odd."_ Ash thought to himself. _"I'd have thought that flare blitz should've been enough to knock it-"_

"Let's end this now with blizzard!" Leaf called out.

"Infernape, stop it! Use flare blitz!" Ash instructed it.

"Infer…infer…infer…" The flame pokémon muttered as it attempted to strike first as it saw Froslass starting its attack.

"Fross…" The snow land pokémon said as it raised its arms into the air and released a blizzard from its hands into the air. The blizzard shot up and curled around the flame pokémon, who looked around in worry and confusion before it attempted to escape. "…Slass!" It shouted as it used its arms to direct all the ice and snow onto Infernape, bringing all the force around it, preventing it from running away and eliminating it from the audiences view.

On the inside, the flame pokémon was battered by the coldness and brought to its knees within a few moments. Before long, it was on its side reeling in from the damages and by the time the snow had cleared, the audience looked down at the field to see Ash's pokémon knocked out.

"Infernape!" Ash exclaimed.

"Infernape is no longer able to battle!" Lance the acting referee declared. "Green trainer, chose your next pokémon!"

* * *

"I can't believe it," Dawn expressed. "Even with a type advantage, Infernape couldn't beat Froslass."

"Well, Leaf's pretty good at taking type advantages and rendering them completely useless." Gary commented.

"Gotta admit, Froslass' defense and speed were pretty impressive." Brock said.

Brendan nodded. "I hear that."

* * *

"It's your turn now!" Ash shouted as he threw his next pokéball after he had recalled and thanked Infernape.

"_This is disappointing."_ Leaf thought as she saw the red light emerge from the capture device.

Out of the pokéball came Swellow, the swallow pokémon and the very first pokémon Ash had caught in the Hoenn region while it was in its first stage of Tailow.

"_If Leaf can win with a type disadvantage, so can I!"_ He confidently told himself.

"_He's making a mistake."_ Leaf thought.

"The green trainer has selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"

"Swellow, use aerial ace!" Ash shouted.

"Swellooow!" The swallow pokémon hooted as its body became outlined in white streaks of wind as it flew around its opponent before quickly diving in for damage. It quickly slammed itself against Froslass' body and sent it reeling before the snow land pokémon or its trainer could even think of a counter.

"Frooos…" The snow land pokémon grunted.

The swallow pokémon's streaks dissipated as it fluttered its wings lightly and ended the technique. Froslass got back to its feet, so to speak, and the two pokémon began staring down one another, their sharp eyes fixated on the other pair.

"Froslass, use thunderbolt!" Leaf shouted.

"Swellow, quick attack." Ash commanded.

The snow land pokémon began to discharge electricity from its body once again and fired it at the incoming swallow pokémon, who quickly dodged the attack several times before it came down to the ground and managed to nail Froslass in the stomach, causing it to bend over in pain.

"Use ice beam!" Leaf called out.

"Frooo…" The snow land pokémon hummed as it formed a blue ball in front of its mouth which then sent forward several smaller beams of ice at its opponent.

"Swellow!" The swallow pokémon exclaimed as it carefully avoided the ice beam and flew around, trying to continue evading as Froslass kept redirecting the beam wherever Swellow went.

"Use aerial ace again!" Ash shouted.

"Swell?" The swallow pokémon blurted in confusion since it was still being attacked. But it followed its trainer's orders anyway and regained its white streaks as it dove down for the kill.

As it saw Swellow coming down, Froslass ceased its ice beam and raised its hands into the air. Once again, the snow land pokémon unleashed a blizzard from its palms and trapping Swellow within its 'snow world' with the coldness everywhere. The swallow pokémon tried to get out but its normally excellent vision was being impaired by the whiteness while its wings were not as effective due to the cold.

"_Darn it!"_ Ash cursed. "Get out of there fast!"

"Swelloooowwwww…" The swallow pokémon screeched as it was barraged by the cold weather inside the blizzard from which it was unable to escape. The blizzard soon dissipated as Froslass lowered its arms. Swellow came down, injured but otherwise able to fight.

"Froslass, return!" Leaf shouted as she pulled out her pokéball and recalled her pokémon.

* * *

"Why the heck would Leaf recall Froslass if she has a type advantage over Swellow?" Dawn wondered aloud.

"It's Leaf, she doesn't think much about type advantages and disadvantages." Gary explained. "She's probably switching to mess around with Ash's head."

"No doubt it's gonna work." Brendan commented.

Everyone was silent for a moment until Brock spoke up. "Somehow, I think he's right."

"Well, let's just wait and see how Ash does the next pokémon Leaf brings out." May suggested as she turned her attention back to the match.

* * *

"Come on out!" Leaf exclaimed as she threw a pokéball into the air.

"Fearow!" The large brown pokémon which came out of the pokémon screeched. It quickly turned its attention to Ash and Pikachu, starting at them with a killing look in its eye. From every possible camera angle shown on the screens, it looked like Fearow was ready to attack Ash at the first thought.

"A…Fearow?" Ash observed.

"That's right." Leaf said. "I caught it a while ago in the forest outside Pallet Town. I haven't used it yet in this tournament."

"The forest…outside Pallet Town?" Ash reviewed, with various possible but horrifying thoughts in his mind. He looked up and noticed the beak pokémon angrily looking at him and Pikachu.

"The red trainer has chosen their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"

"Fearow, use drill peck!" Leaf commanded.

"Swellow, aerial ace!" Ash shouted.

Both pokémon took off flying upon receiving their orders.

"Feeeear!" The beak pokémon screeched as it flew through the air as its beak started spinning like a drill as it approached Swellow.

"Swelloow!" The swallow pokémon blared as its body was engulfed in white streaks while it zoomed towards Fearow.

The two pokémon raced towards one another with killer instincts visible in their eyes. As they approached one another, Swellow ducked downwards and managed to dodge Fearow's spinning beak while it went back up and nailed it in the stomach with its aerial ace.

"Feeear…!" The beak pokémon shouted in pain as it reeled from the blow.

"Use tri-attack!" Leaf shouted.

The beak pokémon spread its wings wide as it approached Swellow who attempted to fly away after hitting the former with its aerial ace. Fearow opened its beak wide as it flew behind the swallow pokémon, ready to fire.

"Fearow!" The beak pokémon exclaimed as a stream of fire erupted from its mouth and scalded the red and black tail of the swallow pokémon who quickly picked up speed to evade its opponent. Fearow quickly followed with a blast of thunder from its mouth which the Swallow pokémon took notice of when it turned back and quickly changed course at the last moment, evading it and letting the yellow bolt hit the ground below and fizzle out.

"Great." Ash subtly cheered.

Fearow followed up with a barrage of ice crystals being released from its mouth. Swellow managed to dodge a few of them but since Fearow kept changing its positioning and managed hit Swellow's wing with a few ice shards.

The swallow pokémon grunted as the attack finals stopped. Though it tried to shake it off, the beak pokémon kept up until Swellow began to pick up speed and fly higher, closer to the sky roof.

"Fearow, drill peck!" Leaf ordered.

"Swellow, use wing attack!" Ash commanded.

"Feeear…" "Swelloo…" The two pokémon shouted as ones beak began spinning like a drill while the others wings took on a white glow. The two jetted towards one another, slashing the wind as they flew, until Swellow's right wing was hit by Fearow's spinning beak, injuring the swallow pokémon enough to make it lose balance and its wings white glow to dissipate. As the beak pokémon flew back to Leaf's side, it shot an angry glare at the raven haired trainer, who looked at it in confusion.

* * *

"Fearow sure is giving Ash a hard time." Brock observed.

"It's almost like it's taking this whole battle personally." Brendan expressed.

"Those eyes are like knives on your mind." Dawn said.

"I agree," Gary said. "Even for an opponent, Fearow looks awfully angry at Ash."

"Maybe it doesn't like his cologne." May jokingly suggested.

Gary snickered. _"As if he's ever used any."_

* * *

"Swellow, aerial ace!" Ash shouted.

The swallow pokémon regained its composure as its body was covered in the standard white glow for the attack. Swellow jetted towards Fearow as fast as it could but even though there was a clear distance between the two, Fearow made no movements and hovered in place. As Swellow got closer, Fearow's trainer looked up and shouted her order.

"Fearow, tri-attack!" Leaf ordered.

Mere feet away from the incoming swallow pokémon; Fearow opened its mouth and released a stream of fire from it, scalding its opponent who was forced to cease its attack. The beak pokémon followed with a blast of electricity which nailed the swallow pokémon as well before ending with a barrage of ice shards, hitting the swallow pokemon multiple times, causing it to

fall to the ground, landing on the brown dirt with a loud sound.

"Swellow!" Ash worriedly exclaimed.

"Swellow is no longer able to battle." Lance declared. "Green trainer, choose your next pokemon!"

Ash quickly pulled out his pokéball and recalled the defeated Swellow back inside. _"Thank you, Swellow."_

* * *

"Did anyone else feel Ash was being awfully reckless?" Brock asked around.

"More than usual?" Dawn questioned.

"Somehow, yeah," Gary said. "I don't think he ordered Swellow to ever dodge an attack."

* * *

"It's your turn!" Ash exclaimed as he threw his pokéball.

Out of Ash's pokéball came his Torterra, the fully-evolved grass-type starter from the Sinnoh region.

"Torterra!" The continent pokémon boomed as it lifted up its back towards its opponent, displaying its thick hide.

* * *

"What the heck is Ash thinking?" May wondered.

"Flying-types are strong against grass-types." Brock stated. "Knowing that, he intentionally chose Torterra."

"Giving himself a disadvantage intentionally," Brendan scowled. "What's he thinking?"

"I don't know but maybe he has some kind of strategy." Dawn said.

"I hope so," Gary said. "For his sake."

* * *

Back on the field, Torterra looked up at Fearow who was flying above the field and looking down angrily at him and Ash. Torterra shot back its own angry glare but it seemed to do nothing to deter its opponent, who seemed to have been carrying some kind of grudge.

"The green trainer has chosen their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"

"Torterra, razor leaf!" Ash ordered.

"Tor.…terra!" The continent pokémon shouted as it shot many small green leaves from its back at the beak pokémon. Most of them missed but a few were able to hit Fearow in the stomach, pushing it back and leaving a scratch.

The continent pokémon began moving around the field while the beak pokémon circled around in the air. Despite its very heavy body, Torterra managed jumped in the air only a few feet, but Fearow seemed to believe that it was going to jump higher, which made the beak pokémon fly higher into the air while Torterra was behind it.

"Now, Torterra, use leaf storm!" Ash commanded.

"Torrr…terrraaaa!" The continent pokémon bellowed as the buds on its back began to glow green. Immediately after, Torterra fired a barrage of glowing green leaves at Fearow from behind. Since the beak pokémon was not facing it, the attack caught it by surprise as it clipped its feathers fast and hard. The cameras revealed to the audience that the attack left some incisions in Fearow's wings, causing it to shout in pain.

"Fearow, use drill peck!" Leaf shouted.

"Feeearrrr…" Leaf's pokémon shouted as its beak began spinning around like a drill as it zoomed down towards Torterra, ready to pierce it.

"Dodge it!" Ash shouted.

"Torterra!" The continent pokémon exclaimed as it attempted to sidestep the beak pokémon's attack. However, Fearow proved too fast and managed to hit Torterra's head with its drilling pecker, causing the continent pokémon to stumble momentarily before regaining its composure.

As Ash wondered what to do next, Leaf made a move.

"Fearow, return!" Leaf yelled as she pulled out her pokéball and recalled her pokémon.

Ash raised a questioning eyebrow at her action while most of the audience

"_One again, Leaf recalls her pokémon despite a type advantage." _Gary thought. _"Is she really just trying to toy with Ash? Cause it's working!"_

* * *

"Leaf's really using the rules to her advantage." Dawn commented.

"But Ash had a pretty good strategy with that rock climb," May added. "Too bad he underestimated her."

"I don't think it's that Ash is underestimating Leaf as much as it is that Leaf is surpassing our expectations." Brock expressed.

"I'd have to agree." Brendan said. "She's clearly been hiding her best tricks for this match."

"Ash better pull of some serious strategy if he wants to win this match." Gary stated.

* * *

"It's your turn, now!" Leaf shouted as she spun around and threw her pokéball.

Out of Leaf's capture device came her Dusknoir, the pokemon she'd been battling with for a while. The gripper pokemon stared down the continent pokémon from across the field, who returned the gesture.

* * *

"Torterra against Dusknoir." Brock read. "This should be an interesting battle."

"Dusknoir's pretty strong, but it doesn't have any moves that are strong against a grass-type pokemon." Dawn commented.

"But Leaf's too smart to go into battle unprepared." Gary said. "I'll be she has something up her sleeve."

* * *

"The red trainer has selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"

"Torterra, use razor leaf!" Ash commanded.

"Tor…terra!" The continent pokémon bellowed as it shot many green leaves from its trees at Dusknoir at an amazing speed. The gripper pokemon attempted to evade the attack and levitated itself away from the path of the attacks but due to its large, slow body it suffered some minor injuries on its left arm.

"Dusknoir, confuse ray!" Leaf ordered.

"Dusknoir!" The gripper pokemon said as the large frowning face on its stomach began to glow purple and it sent a silhouette of itself at its opponent.

"Get out of the way!" Ash shouted.

With effort, the continent pokémon narrowly managed to evade the silhouette of Dusknoir by jumping to the side with some difficulty. It landed back on the field with the attack having passed and Dusknoir looking frustrated.

"_Torterra's_ faster that I thought." Leaf thought to herself. _"I wonder what would happen if I used that move."_

"What do you think it is that Leaf's planning?" May asked the others as they noticed Leaf standing still on the field while Dusknoir hovered in place.

"Whatever it is, she'd better do it fast because Torterra seems to have the advantage." Brendan stated.

"Torterra, use razor leaf!" Ash ordered.

"Tor!" The continent pokémon shouted as the leaves on the tree on its back started to shake and it fired multiple razor-sharp leaves from the tree at the gripper pokémon.

"Dusknoir, use trick room!" She told it, making Ash adopt a worried look on his face.

"Dusk…noir!" The gripper pokemon said as its eyes started to glow red and a large light blue rectangle with light blue transparent walls and ceiling appeared around the battlefield. Torterra's leaves were still in the air as the cameras showed them from every angle near Dusknoir, ready to strike. However, the never managed to make contact with Dusknoir's body as the light blue glow faded and the walls and the ceiling became invisible while the gripper pokémon zoomed out of their path.

"_Trick room?"_ Ash cursed. _"I wasn't expecting that. This could be a problem."_

Dusknoir quickly broke the feeling of pain as it stared at Torterra, who was right in front of it.

"Dusknoir's never used trick room before." Ash commented.

"You didn't think I'd come into battle without preparing did you?" Leaf asked. "I've been training with Dusknoir this last week to learn new moves just for battling you."

"I'm flattered." Ash joked before turning serious.

"Shadow punch!" Leaf shouted.

"Torterra, leaf storm!" Ash commanded.

"Dusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as its hands became surrounded in a shadowy aura, and it reached its arms out. A shadow fist in the shape of Dusknoir's reached out and immediately smashed into the continent pokémon before it could even shoot out its leaf storm, sending it flying across the field back to the other side.

"Trick room is a move which make fast pokemon slow and slow pokemon fast." Leaf explained. "Right now, we're pretty evenly matched."

"_This isn't good."_ Ash thought to himself as he saw the injured Torterra get back to its feet as Dusknoir hovered on the other side of the field, panting in exhaust.

"Tort…." The continent pokémon grunted.

"_Torterra was a slow pokémon so trick room's making just as fast as it used to be slow."_ Ash theorized. _"But it doesn't matter since Dusknoir will be just as fast. I'll have to be quicker on the command"_

"Dusknoir, use pursuit!" Leaf ordered, catching Ash off guard.

"Dussss." The gripper pokemon buzzed as its body began shaking so much that it began to blur. Torterra had no time to get out of the way as the Dusknoir blur bashed into it within the blink of an eye.

"_Darn it."_ Ash cursed. _"How am I gonna fight this?"_

* * *

"Ash sure seems to be in a bind." Gary commented.

"Just goes to show how skilled Leaf is." Brock said.

* * *

"Dusknoir, ice punch!" Leaf shouted.

"Duuuuusk!" The gripper pokemon shouted as the dark parts on both of its arms started to glow light blue as it approached Torterra, getting ready to punch it with both of them.

"_If that hit's I'm in real trouble!"_ Ash thought for a moment before getting and idea. "Torterra, hunch down and use leaf storm!"

"Tor…" The continent pokémon boomed as it bent down its head just as Dusknoir had caught up to it. "Terra!" It shouted as the trees on its back started to release a cyclone of wind and glowing light green leaves from the seeds towards the opponent standing above. The attack collided with Dusknoir's icy blue fists and created a cloud of dust in front of the two pokémon which even the cameras were unable to see through or around.

"Dusknoir!" "Torterra!" Leaf and Ash called out simultaneously.

Eventually, the dust subsided and revealed the continent pokémon standing in place, visibly out of breath with its body covered in injuries. The gripper pokémon was also revealed to be heavily injured, it hovered in place with its arms sagging down, indicating some kind of injury which impaired them to some extent.

While the two pokémon caught their breath, the blue walls around the field began flashing before they stopped entirely. Torterra's eyes opened widely as it stood up straight and began stretching, realizing that the trick room effect was no longer in place. "Tor!" It exclaimed. Dusknoir, too, realized that the effect had faded when its trainer shouted out an order.

"Use pursuit!" Leaf ordered.

"Alright, then!" Ash cheered. "Use leaf storm!"

The gripper pokémon became a blur as it began pursuit, rushing across the field at an immense speed. The trees on Torterra's back began to glow white and it released a barrage of light green glowing leaves from all around at the incoming opponent. The leaves made contact with Dusknoir as it blazed forward but failed to actually stop it as they continually bounced off. The continent pokémon continued with the attack and eventually managed to aim closer to Dusknoir's bottom, preventing it from effectively hovering while knocking it around.

"Duuuuuusssk…" The gripper pokémon bellowed as it was knocked to the ground by the repeated leaf storm blows to its bottom which threw off its gravity.

"Now, Torterra, rock climb!" Ash hastily commanded.

"Tooooor..…" The continent pokémon said as its claws started to glow white and then grew longer. It got onto its hind legs and slammed its front legs into the ground. The ground separated and protruded just before Torterra began to run up the side of the protruded ground to slam into its opponent.

"Dusknoir, ice punch!" Leaf called out.

"Duuuuuuuuusk!" The gripper pokémon shouted as it got up off the ground and the dark part of its fists took on a light blue glow as it gestured them back.

As Torterra approached, Dusknoir did the same. It came over with its head down just like before while Dusknoir moved its arms forward. Torterra's head made contact with the blue fists and created another dust explosion which blanketed the field once again. The dust was even thicker than before and the cameras still could not see through it. Minutes passed before even a glance could be taken.

"_Come on, Torterra."_ Ash thought while he waited for the dust to subside.

Eventually, the dust cleared up but what was inside the cloud was not something either trainer wanted to see.

Both Torterra and Dusknoir had been knocked unconscious by the collision and were lying on the ground completely still. The ground which was brought up by the rock climb went back to normal while Ash looked down at his feet, trying to hide the sight from his eyes.

"Both Torterra and Dusknoir are no longer able to battle!" Lance declared.

Both Ash and Leaf recalled their pokémon after Lance's declaration. Ash walked back sullenly to his preparation room with Pikachu following him while Leaf stayed on the field.

"Since the green trainer, Ash Ketchum, has lost three pokémon, we will take a short intermission." Lance announced.

Numerous insults were hurled as Ash as he walked back. He did his best to tune them out but found it to be near impossible. His face showed no sadness, only an entire lack of emotion altogether as he entered his room and closed the door behind him before sitting down.

He hung his head low as Pikachu sat next to him, rubbing his arm to make him feel better.

"PikaPi?" The electric rodent worriedly asked.

"I dunno Pikachu…" The raven haired trainer responded, his voice beginning to break. "I just can't figure it out what to do…"

* * *

Rayquaza45: Well, so how was that? I hope you guys liked it cause I was beginning to get desperate to put it up so that I wouldn't lose readers and reviewers. This is also the longest chapter in the story as of yet.

That being said...PLEASE REVIEW.

Yeah, so, that's the end of this chapter. I promise there **won't** be another huge delay again in posting the next chapter since it's almost done with just a little more to go.

I really hope you guys will forgive me for that long delay since December 2010. It was unfortunate. But it is in the past now.

Stay tuned because we are very close to the end.

So thank you for reading, please leave a review and stay tuned for the next chapter.


	19. The Advent of Ash's Comeback

Rayquaza45: Hello there, readers! Sorry to have kept you waiting. Though it hasn't been as long as my last massive break, I am a bit later than I'd have liked so I apologize. But anyways, chapter 19 is now here! I really hope you guys like it and so far, it is the longest chapter.

Leaf's really been handing it to Ash in the finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament. What has he been doing wrong? Maybe an old opponent has something to say.

Thanks to Gerbilftw for his work on this.

So please read and review! Please! We only have a few chapters left and then it's all over!

Lets get on with it! Please review afterwards!

* * *

**Chapter 19: The Advent of Ash's Comeback**

"Darn it!" Ash Ketchum furiously shouted as he smashed his fists onto his knees in frustration, his head hanging low in anger and frustration.

"Pika?" The electric rodent next to him asked as it lightly tugged his shirt.

"Stop it, Pikachu…please." He requested as his eyes were clamped shut.

He was down three pokémon while Leaf had only lost one. His Infernape managed to put up a good battle against Leaf's Froslass but was overpowered by it in the end, despite its type advantage. Then his Swellow managed to hit Froslass but Leaf recalled it and sent out her sixth pokémon which she hadn't revealed so far, her Fearow that she coincidentally caught in the area outside Pallet Town. After an impressive battle in the air against said Fearow, Swellow was knocked. Then it was Torterra's turn and even with the disadvantage, it managed to hit Fearow out of pure luck. Then Fearow was recalled and Leaf's Dusknoir, which had recently learned ice punch, was sent out. Eventually, Torterra and Dusknoir were both knocked out at the same time and the match was called for a break since Ash had lost three of his pokémon. The fact that all these defeats were shown on the field camera screens from multiple angles made the experience even more humiliating.

"_Why is this happening?"_ He asked himself. _"I trained like never before. I worked harder than I can remember!"_

The idea that he was losing this badly was a serious blow to the Pallet Town trainer. This was going to be his biggest victory so far and yet he couldn't seem to get the edge. He'd developed new strategies, tried new methods and even placed himself at a disadvantage to mimic and intimidate Leaf. He was sure his pokémon had become stronger, so why couldn't he win?

All of a sudden, Ash heard a knock on his preparation room door and got up to check it out. When he opened it, he expected to see May, Brock, Gary or another of his friend but the person who was standing there was someone he hadn't seen in quite a while and wasn't someone he had expected to see any time soon, giving him a surprise.

"Lucas?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Hi there, Ash." Lucas replied.

It had been a long time since Ash had seen his old opponent from the top 8 round. They'd first met after the preliminaries and they had ended up battling in the top 8 round after both got past the top 16. After he won that battle, he proceeded to shake Lucas' hand but the loser ended up running away as Ash looked on in confusion. For some reason, he was now back.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked.

"Pika?" The electric rodent asked.

"I've been watching you match with Leaf." Lucas told him. "You're really losing it, you know?"

The two of them just stared at one another for a few moments. Did he just come here to say that? How pointless.

"What is it you want, Lucas?" Ash asked point blank. "You ran away from me after you lost and now you show up here of all places, at this of all times?"

"You're right." Lucas said, not defending himself but submitting to Ash's words. "I was just being a sore loser when I lost but I'm over that. I just wanted to make a final peace with you before this tournament was over."

"You may have been a poor sport, but I don't hate you for it." The raven haired trainer explained.

"Well that's good to know." Lucas chuckled. "But better be safe than sorry. I wanted to clear it out of my head or it was gonna keep eating me for a long time."

"Understandable."

"I'm sorry if you got a bad impression of my after I ran away like that, I didn't mean to offend you or anything by refusing to shake your hand." Lucas stated. "I was just really distraught. I've lost before, but never when someone I liked was watching."

"Liked?" Ash asked. "Do you….?"

"Pikaka?" Pikachu asked.

"Is it that obvious?" He asked with a slight chuckle. "After she saw me lose, I felt pretty humiliated. Just like anyone else, I was aiming for the top."

"Well…I guess having the person you like seeing you lose would be pretty devastating." Ash admitted.

"Yeah, so that's basically why I ran away." Lucas said. "But then I started thinking about the battle itself and you. I realized that when I was just concentrating on the battle, I was actually having fun. You gave me that and then I went and ran away from you. It was just plain wrong."

"Well, I'd have to agree with you there." Ash told him.

"So Ash, I'm sorry about that." Lucas told him. "Can we just forget about that?"

"Yes." Ash smiled for once since the end of the round. "Let's let bygones be bygones."

"But I also came here because I wanted to talk to you about your match." Lucas added.

"My match?"

"I was watching your match and I've been thinking that you've lost that spark you had at the beginning of the tournament." Lucas explained. "The one that helped you get past the preliminaries, win against me and trounce Brendan."

"What are you talking about?" Ash asked him, his eyes narrowing in curiosity.

"When you were battling Leaf, you were overreacting to everything." Lucas said. "I know we don't know each other that well, but I can tell that that's not you."

"Overreacting?"

"Pi?"

"You were giving yourself a disadvantage just to prove that you can handle it." Lucas started. "Using a flying-type against an ice-type? Not exactly a move I would recommend."

"Spare me the sarcasm and go on." Ash told him.

"Well, Leaf switched Frosslass for Fearow and beat Swellow in an aerial battle." Lucas reminded him. "But Swellow could've been the winner because of its superior speed. You got deranged and angry, always going in for the attack. That's why you lost, Swellow was left wide open, and especially after Froslass hit it, it was more vulnerable."

At first, the statement seemed somewhat odd but once considering it a bit deeper, Ash began to realize the truth of Lucas' words. He was being rash, much more than usual. Remembering how many times in the past he had lost battles due to his overconfidence or rash actions, Ash finally started thinking a bit more clearly about the situation and what needed to be done.

"I guess…you could be right." The raven haired trainer admitted.

"You seem to be a trainer who prefers fast pokémon so you can conduct quick hits." Lucas said. "It's a strategy that's gotten you this far."

"You're right…" Ash agreed. "It has."

"Why not just have faith in your own style of battle?" Lucas asked. "As long as your bond with your pokémon is strong, there's nothing you can't do."

"You know, you're a lot smarter than you look, Lucas." Ash told him as he looked at the clock on his wall. "I think it's time."

"Go out there and win it all, Ash." Lucas told him. "I believe you can do it."

"Thank you, Lucas." Ash said, holding his hand out.

"Anytime, champ." He responded as he took the extended hand and shook it.

"For now, it's Champ-to-be." Ash jokingly corrected him.

"Pikachu!" The faithful electric rodent cheered at the sight.

* * *

Within a matter of minutes, Ash had gotten his items together and was ready to fight to attain the title of Battle Spirits Tournament Champion. With his pokéballs on his belt, hat on his head and Pikachu on his shoulder, he made his way to the field as the door to the green preparation room opened and allowed him to hear the crowd jeer at his return, as they had been doing since he performed his stunt.

"Man this crowd is unforgiving." Ash cursed under his breath.

Meanwhile, up in the stands were Ash's friends who sat together as they watched the match.

"He's finally back." Dawn exclaimed.

"Is it just me or is he looking a lot better than he did when he'd left." Brock asked aloud.

"I guess he's finally come to terms with himself." May stated.

"It's in the realm of possibility." Brendan acknowledged.

"Whatever happened, he's back." Gary said. "And he's sure to put on a good match."

* * *

On the other side of the field, Ash noticed that Leaf was already there, standing in full confidence and smiling at her opponent/boyfriend.

"Welcome back, Ash." She called to him.

"Great to be here." He sarcastically replied.

Just when the crowd finally settled down, Johto Champion Lance, the acting referee of the battle, took his microphone and ordered the cameras to start up. In a flash, the cameras around the edge of the arena were showing every angle of the battlefield as the two trainers faced off.

"Welcome back to the finals of the BATTLE SPIRITS TOURNAMENT!" Lance exclaimed with enthusiasm, eliciting cheers from the audience. "Our intermission is over and we now take you back to the match!"

"Feel free to surrender, baby." Leaf tauntingly suggested to Ash.

"Not happening, Leaf." Ash slyly laughed, shaking his head. "Now it's my turn to take charge of this match."

"Because the previous battle ended in a draw with both pokémon, both trainers will be releasing a new pokémon at the same time." Lance announced. "So are both trainers ready to begin?"

"Yep."

"Yeah."

"Alright then." Lance said. "Both trainers shall now release their pokémon!"

"Go!" Leaf shouted as she threw her pokéball.

"It's your turn!" Ash called out as he threw his own pokéball.

On Leaf's side came her Milotic, the tender pokémon from Hoenn. Having most recently been used against Gary in the semifinals, the tender pokémon looked ready to go.

On Ash's side was his Sceptile, the fully evolved grass-type starter from Hoenn, also known as the forest pokémon. Sceptile had been with Ash's team since he arrived from Pallet Town and had taken part in the semifinal round of the tournament against Brendan.

The cameras around the field showed the two pokémon staring the other down from different angles, ready to battle.

"Both trainers have now selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle BEGIN!"

"Milotic, use ice beam!" Leaf commanded.

"Sceptile, leaf storm!" The raven haired trainer ordered.

"Miiiii!" "Tor!" The tender pokémon whaled as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth and quickly broke off into several smaller beams. Sceptile's leaves were all blocked in the air and created a cloud of dust from the explosion.

All of a sudden, the dust cleared up as a Sceptile held out its green blade and zoomed through at an amazing speed such that Leaf didn't notice at first. The blade hit the unaware Milotic square in the chest, knocking it down and dissipating upon contact.

"What the heck was that?" Leaf cursed as she looked at a smiling Ash Ketchum on the other side of the field.

"That was Sceptile's leaf blade attack." Ash proudly stated.

"Scept!" The forest pokémon proudly exclaimed.

* * *

"Did you see the power of that move?" Dawn asked around.

"It was pretty intense!" May added.

Gary nodded in agreement. _"This is just gonna get better."_

* * *

"Nice strategy, using the dust as a cover for your attack." Leaf admitted. "But it isn't gonna work again."

"Milo!" Leaf's pokémon screeched as it rose from the ground, in support of its trainer's words.

"Time for hydro pump!" Leaf exclaimed.

"Miloooo!" The tender pokémon shouted as it unleashed a powerful stream of water from its mouth at Sceptile.

"Sceptile, leaf storm!" Ash commanded.

"Scep…tile!" The forest pokémon bellowed as seeds on its back started to glow light green and released a cyclone of wind and glowing light green leaves from them towards the incoming hydro pump.

The leaf storm was able to pierce the stream and thus showed its power by sending many of the leaves right through the hydro pump, cutting Milotic while only suffering a minor drench itself.

"Use, leaf blade!" Ash commanded.

"Milotic, water gun!" Leaf ordered.

"Miloooo!" "Scept!" The two pokémon shouted at the same time as they unleashed their attacks.

Sceptile's light green energy blade met with the end of Milotic's water gun stream and collided with it in midair for a moment as the forest pokémon began pushing against it to overpower it. The water gun pushed back equally hard and the two attacks were locked in a stalemate for a few moments until, on Sceptile's direction, the leaf blade managed to direct the water upwards and create an opening.

The forest pokémon jumped into the air and with its green leaf blade, pierced through the water gun eventually, due in part to its natural elemental advantage, overpowered it.

"Excellent!" Ash exclaimed as the leaf blade caused the water gun to dissipate and nailed the tender pokémon in the chest and knocked down to the ground.

"_I can't believe this."_ Leaf cursed. _"He's battling in a totally different way from before!"_

"Sceptile, let's end this with another leaf blade!" Ash shouted

"Scept!" The forest pokémon bellowed as its arm blades began glowing green with energy as it ran at its opponent.

"Milotic, ice beam!" Leaf commanded.

"Milo…tiiiiiiiic!" The tender pokémon screeched as it formed a blue ball in front of its face which then broke off into several blue beams and made contact with the leaf blade.

"Don't let up, Sceptile!" Ash called out.

"Scept…!" "Milooo…!" The two pokémon shouted as their attacks clashed as they met and attempted to bypass or overpower the other.

The battle went on as such for several moments, but it was painfully obvious that Sceptile was being outmatched this time since ice has a natural advantage over grass. Though the forest pokémon tried as hard as it could, it could not make the leaf blade pierce the ice beam while Milotic simply waited for an opportunity

"Finish this!" Leaf ordered her pokémon.

With that, Milotic put even more power into its ice beam and slowly overpowered the leaf blade. As the blue jets raced towards Sceptile, the raven haired trainer made a frantic call.

"Sceptile, get out of the way!" He shouted.

But his words went to waste as Sceptile was frozen over by the tender pokémon's attack while Milotic slithered in place.

"Hit it with hydro pump!" Leaf commanded.

"Miloooo!" The tender pokémon shouted as it unleashed a powerful jet of water at the frozen Sceptile. The block of ice encasing Ash's pokémon was shattered instantly and fell to the ground while the water sprayed Sceptile in the face for a few more moments until it ran out.

The entire audience was silent as Sceptile did not move for a minute. It could be seen struggling to stand in one spot and looked like it may have been knocked down for the count.

But true to its determination, Sceptile managed to stand back up and raised both its arms.

"No sweat!" The raven haired trainer assured his pokémon. "We're still in this!"

"Sceptile!" The fully evolved grass-type starter from Hoenn exclaimed as it got back to its feet.

"Solar beam!" He called out.

"Scept." The forest pokémon shouted as it firmly planted its feet into the ground, kicking up dust as it began sucking in energy from the open roof into its tail. Little by little, particles entered Sceptile's body as it prepared to fire its attack. Finally, its tail turned white.

"_Well this is gonna be unfortunate for him…"_ Leaf thought before ordering another attack. "Ice beam!"

"Sceptile, now!" Ash commanded.

"Sceeee!" "Milo…tiiiiiiiic!" The two pokémon shouted as they unleashed their attacks. The blue beams of ice from Milotic were blocked mid-way by the bright yellow attack. The collision immediately created a dust cloud which left both pokémon invisible to the other and blocked their view from the cameras.

"We're breaking through!" He exclaimed. "Sceptile, bullet seed!"

"Sceptiiii…" The fully evolved grass type starter from Hoenn shouted as it shot many glowing yellow seeds from its mouth at the cloud of dust at a high velocity, shredding it like cheese and exposing the vulnerable tender pokémon.

"Gotta end this." Ash said. "Sceptile, time for leaf storm!"

"Scept!" The forest pokémon shouted as the seeds on its back began to glow white and it released a barrage of light green glowing leaves from all around at the tender pokémon. The leaves ripped through the air like a knife to paper and hit the unexpecting Milotic on the other side.

"Miii!" The tender pokémon whaled in pain as Sceptile's leaves struck its body like sharp blades.

"Milotic!" Leaf exclaimed.

"Milo…mi…" The tender pokémon blurted as the attack stopper just as it hit the ground, unconscious.

"Milotic is no longer able to battle!" Lance declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokémon!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Milotic." Leaf said as she recalled her pokémon back into its pokéball and took out another one.

* * *

"So now Ash has three pokémon left and Leaf has four." Brock reviewed. "Looks like Ash is beginning to turn this around."

"It's still a long way to the end so let's not count Leaf out yet." Gary suggested.

"She probably has some more tricks up her sleeve." Brendan said. "Ash still needs to keep his guard up."

* * *

"Go get 'em!" Leaf shouted as she threw a pokéball into the air.

The pokéball opened in mid-air and released a flash of red light which turned into a lady-like pokémon made of ice. "Froslass."

"_Hmm, Froslass is back."_ The raven haired trainer reviewed in his head. _"I'll have to keep on my toes with this one."_

"The red trainer has selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"

"Sceptile, let's go for it right now with leaf blade!" The green trainer shouted.

"Sceeeep!" The forest pokémon hollered as the four leaves on its wrists began to glow light green and formed into two. Sceptile then ran up to its opponent and prepared to slice it into two.

"Fros?" Leaf's pokémon probed in confusion.

"Scept!" Sceptile shouted as it ran and slammed its glowing blade into the snow land pokémon, knocking it back several dozen feet as it glided along the ground from the force, occasionally bumping into the ground and getting back in the air.

"Froslass!" The red trainer shouted as she saw get pokémon being knocked across the field by the forest pokémon.

"Grass-type moves aren't strong against ice-type pokémon but that's gotta hurt." Ash commented as Froslass landed on the other side of the field and struggled to get back up.

"Come on Froslass, let's get back in this." Leaf encouraged her pokémon. "We won't lose this battle, here."

"Sceptile, bullet seed!" Ash shouted.

"Froslass, ice beam!" Leaf ordered.

"Sceeeee!" The forest pokémon bellowed as it started shooting many glowing yellow seeds from its mouth at its opponent at a high velocity.

"Frossssss!" The snow land pokémon screeched as a blue ball formed in front of its mouth broke off into several small blue beams which hit the incoming bullet seeds and created a dust cloud around the field.

"You know what to do, Sceptile." Ash told it.

Meanwhile, Leaf was unable to see anything past her half of the field while Froslass hovered in place, waiting for the cloud to clear up.

"Fro?" The snow land pokémon inquired as it noticed a figure moving in the foreground.

"What is it, Froslass?" Leaf asked.

"Fro!"

As the smoke cleared a bit, both Leaf and Froslass could see a pokémon crouching down in front of Froslass. It was Sceptile and it was now only a few feet from where Froslass was and was holding up its green leaf blade, obviously preparing to strike.

"Now, Sceptile!" The raven haired trainer shouted from across the field.

Immediately, Sceptile jumped at its opponent and nailed it in the stomach with the leaf blade at point blank range, hitting the snow land pokémon in the mid-section and sending it flying.

As Froslass flew backwards, it crashed into the field, dragging the ground back with it.

"Frooo!" The snow land pokémon shouted as it wreathed in pain.

"Sceptile, solar beam!" Ash commanded.

"Scepppppp!" The forest pokémon muttered as it began collecting energy in its tail from the open roof.

"Ice beam!" Leaf ordered.

"Sceptiiiiile!" The forest pokémon shouted as it fired a white beam from its mouth at its opponent.

"Froo" The snow land pokémon screeched as its blue beams hit the incoming solar beam and battled with it.

"Sceptile!" Ash exclaimed as he saw his pokémon struggling from the ice beam holding off the solar beam. Unbelievably, the ice beam actually managed to overpower the solar beam as Froslass put more energy into it and shattered the solar beam, barely giving Sceptile enough time to dodge.

"Good job, Froslass, now use attract!" Leaf told it.

"Frooooos!" The snow land pokémon calmly said as a white heart was formed in front of its body. The white heart hit the forest pokémon in the head, causing it to blush furiously and turn away from its opponent.

"Sceptile!" Ash exclaimed in concern.

"Frosslass time to use ice beam!" Leaf shouted.

"Frosss!" The snow land pokémon said as a blue ball in front of its mouth formed and just as quickly broke into several smaller beams of energy. The beams made their way to the immobilized forest pokémon.

"Sceptile, you have to get out of the way!" Ash pleaded.

The forest pokémon made no attempt to dodge the snow land pokémon's ice beam attack given its infatuation. It stood in place and was frozen over by the icy attack, covering it in a block of ice.

"No!" The green trainer wailed.

"Alright, let's hit it with blizzard!" Leaf exclaimed.

"Frossss…!" Froslass said as it raised its arms into the air and released a blizzard from its hands into the air. "Lass!" The snow land pokémon shouted as the blizzard shot up and curled around and circled around the frozen forest pokémon.

All at once, the blizzard crashed into the ice shell around Sceptile and smashed it to bits. The forest pokémon fell to the ground at once, knocked around hard by the doubly effective attack.

Amazingly, the forest pokémon had not fallen unconscious despite the powerful attacks and could be seen struggling to get back up until its trainer had another thought.

"Sceptile, return!" The raven haired trainer shouted as he pulled out his pokéball and called Sceptile back into it.

Once again, the majority of the crowd began cheering loudly for Leaf after she'd forced Ash to recall a pokémon. This grudge they had against him, up to this point, he had ignored and saw no reason to give into their nonsense yet.

"Thank you, Sceptile." Ash said as he put away his pokéball and turned to his faithful first pokémon. "It's your turn."

"Pi-Ka!" The electric mouse pokémon exclaimed as it ran out onto the field to battle.

* * *

"Ash is using Pikachu now!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Yeah, Sceptile is just too injured to fight a pokémon it's _this_ disadvantaged against." Brock stated with his arms crossed.

"But will Pikachu be able to do any better?" Brendan asked.

The brunette coordinator lightly nudged her boyfriend for that. "Beat your Mantine, didn't it?" May laughed.

"Well Pikachu had the advantage there." Gary pointed out.

"That's right," Brendan agreed. "Let's see how well Pikachu does here."

* * *

"The Green Trainer has selected their Pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"

"Pikachu, volt tackle!" Ash ordered.

"Froslass, ice beam!" Leaf commanded.

"Pikapikapikapikapikapikapika…" The electric rodent repeated as it ran to the snow land pokémon. Its body was surrounded by golden electricity, which made its body appear black and white. From the left, right, behind, front and top, the yellow mouse's body created a blinding sensation with its bright electricity.

"Frosss!" Leaf's pokémon said as a light blue ball formed in front of its face and fires light blue beams from it at the incoming electrically-charged rodent.

The ice beam did manage to hit Pikachu but the electricity covering its whole body protected it from being frozen over. Though it was slowed down, the electric rodent kept charging at its opponent, ready to smash its body into it.

"Pikapikapika…Pi-Ka!" Ash's starter pokémon shouted as it head-butted the snow land pokémon in the stomach, sending it reeling.

"Fro!" Froslass wreathed in pain.

"Froslass, don't give up!" Leaf pleaded. "We need to end this! Use attract!"

"Frooooos!" The snow land pokémon calmly said as a white heart was formed in front of its body and floated towards the electric rodent.

"Pikachu, dodge that heart!" Ash exclaimed, knowing the danger of letting it hit.

"Pika…pika…pika." The yellow mouse panted as it ran around the field, evading the white heart until it finally hit the ground and fizzled out.

"No!" The red trainer exclaimed.

"Yeah, alright, use thunderbolt, Pikachu!" The raven haired trainer told it.

"Pika…chuuuuuuuu!" The electric rodent shouted as it released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at the snow land pokémon at point blank range, hitting it square on.

"Froossslaaaaaaa…" The snow land pokémon shouted in dire pain before collapsing on the ground, knocked out cold.

"Froslass!" Leaf exclaimed.

"Froslass is no longer able to battle!" Lance declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokémon!"

* * *

"Return!" Leaf said as she brought out the snow land pokémon's pokéball and recalled it.

"Well, how's that for Pikachu's ability?" May asked her boyfriend.

"I'm impressed." He responded with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Now Leaf and Ash are both down to three pokémon each." Dawn observed.

"I'm interested in seeing how much further they can go like this." Brock said. "This is getting pretty interesting."

"It's still a long road to victory for either of them." Gary stated.

* * *

Back on the field, Leaf was rummaging through her bag to find the next pokéball. When she found it, she zipped up her bag and stood with the ball in her hand before throwing it up.

"Come on out!" She shouted as she threw the pokéball into the air.

The pokéball opened up in midair and released a red flash of light while the ball itself went back to Leaf. The light turned into a small bipedal cat-like pokémon. "Leafeon!' The pokémon shouted.

"_Leafeon."_ Ash thought. _"With its grass-type, it'll be able to resist Pikachu's electric attacks."_

"The Red Trainer has selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"

"Leafeon, use razor leaf." Leaf shouted.

"Leafeeeeeon!" The verdant pokémon yelped as the outline of the leaf on its head began to glow green and it lowered its head. A wave of golden energy formed in the back of its head and moved up the leaf until it reached the end. It then released several razor-sharp leaves from the leaf on its head at the electric mouse.

"Pikachu, iron tail, let's go!" The raven haired trainer ordered.

"Pi-Ka!" The yellow rodent pokémon shouted as its entire tail turned white and it hit the razor leaves with it leaving behind a white trail of energy where it swung.

"Darn it," Leaf cursed. "Leafeon, use hyper beam!"

"Pikachu, volt tackle!" The green trainer ordered.

"Pikapikapikapikapikapika…" The electric rodent reiterated as it ran at the opponent. Its body became surrounded by golden electricity which made its body look black and white.

"Leafe…onnnnnnnnnn!" The verdant pokémon shouted as it opened its mouth and a red-orange ball appeared in front of it. Even as Pikachu came charging out like a raging bull the verdant pokémon didn't bother to move or attempt to escape. It fired the beam of orange energy at the electrically charged Pikachu.

However, Pikachu's body embarked through the beam, shattering it in the process. Leaf gasped out in shock when she saw Pikachu slam against Leafeon's body, believing that the power of the hyper beam should've overcome the volt tackle. The verdant pokémon's body started twisting in pain and sparking with electricity.

"Leafeon's been paralyzed, this can work for us." Ash told Pikachu. "Iron tail!"

"Pi-ka" The electric mouse pokémon shouted as its entire tail turned white and it hit the injured verdant pokémon with it, sending it flying across the field.

"Leeeeeeeee…" Leafeon screeched in pain.

"Piiii." The electric rodent whimpered as the recoil energy from the volt tackle started affecting it. Within a matter of seconds, however, Pikachu regained its composure and stared at its injured opponent.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

"Pika….!" The electric rodent muttered as yellow sparks appeared around its tail and cheeks.

"Dodge it!" Leaf shouted in vain as the paralysis prevented Leafeon from moving.

"…Chuuuuuuu!" Pikachu shouted as it released a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at the verdant pokémon, shocking it with great force as its most famous attack created bright flashes of light which filled the battlefield.

"Leeeee…" The red trainer's pokémon shouted in pain from the powerful electric attack.

As the attack fizzled out, the verdant pokémon shook its body violently to rid itself of the paralysis, to no avail. Pikachu smiled proudly at its opponents disadvantage and positioned itself, waiting for Ash's next order.

"Pikachu, finish it off with thunder!" Ash told it.

"Piiiiikaaaa…"

"We aren't letting this round go without a fight!" Leaf proclaimed. "Leafeon, use hyper beam!"

"Le...leeee…" The verdant pokémon screeched as it began gathering the energy for hyper beam. In a moment, the orange beam fired from its mouth at the electric rodent.

"…chuuuuuuuu!" The yellow mouse shouted as it unleashed a powerful and huge thunder strike at its opponent.

The orange beam of energy and the bright yellow thunder collided with one another and began pushing the other to get through. Pikachu put more and more energy into its thunder as Leafeon followed suit with its hyper beam. Sparks broke off the attacks and fizzled out with contact to the ground as the orange beam and yellow bolt pushed against one another to gain ground. It seemed like Pikachu, having been in better physical condition, would've been able to overpower its opponents attack but the verdant pokémon refused to give up without a fight and put all its energy into the hyper beam.

"Keep going, Pikachu!" Ash called out to his pokémon.

"Pika….chuuuuuuu!" The electric rodent shouted as it heard its trainer's encouragement. By gripping the ground tighter, it manager to concentrate more on putting energy behind the thunder attack and fired additional energy at the hyper beam, overpowering it and pushing it back at the verdant pokémon, causing it to explode in its face and create a dust cloud.

Once the cloud cleared, Pikachu could be seen panting heavily while Leafeon had been completely knocked out. Despite the verdant pokémon's grass-type attribute giving it a resistance to electric-type moves, it had been unable to even damage Pikachu or even land a hit. Ash smiled subtly at this revelation while Leaf looked on in disbelief at how easily her pokémon was beaten.

"Leafeon is no longer able to battle!" Lance declared. "Red trainer, choose your next pokémon!"

Once again, the majority of the audience booed loudly at Ash's success against Leaf. He was beginning to wonder if there was anything at all he could do to get them on his side, or at least off his back. The display of Leafeon's defeat by the cameras around the screen was somewhat of a catalyst for the hate, though the cameraman had to try to be as unbiased as possible.

Up in the stands, Ash's friends, among the only ones who weren't rooting against him, we conversing amongst themselves.

* * *

"So Leaf's got like what, two pokémon left?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, Fearow and another." Gary said.

"I can only guess who the other one is." Brendan commented.

"It has to be Venusaur." May concluded.

Brock nodded. "Leaf's first and strongest pokémon."

* * *

"Come on out!" Leaf shouted as she threw her pokéball into the air.

Her pokéball opened up and released a bright flash of red light which manifested itself into a large flying-type pokémon.

"Fearow!" The beak pokémon cried as it spread its wings.

"Pika!" The electric rodent shouted as it prepared to face its opponent.

"The Red Trainer has selected their pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" The raven haired trainer commanded.

"Pikaaa…chuuuuuuu!" The yellow mouse shouted as it charged and fired a bolt of yellow electricity at the beak pokémon. Without even having to be told, however, Fearow glided to the side and dodged the attack without much effort before it began to swoop down.

"Fearow, drill peck!" Leaf shouted.

"Fearfearfearfearfearfearfear…" The beak pokémon yelped as it repeatedly pecked Pikachu with its incredibly sharp beak multiple times.

"Pikachu, hurry, get out of there!" Ash told it.

"Pika!" The electric rodent exclaimed as it jumped out of the way of Fearow's incoming beak, causing it to hit the ground.

"Use volt tackle!" Ash commanded.

"Pikapikapikapikapikapikapika…" The yellow mouse repeated as it ran towards its opponent as its body was covered in electricity for the attack. With one jump, the electricity-covered rodent nailed the beak pokémon's wing just as it was preparing to fly higher. The shock knocked it of balance and injured its wing slightly, causing it to flail in the air for a bit but failed to do anything significant.

"Fe…fear..." Leaf's pokémon grunted.

"Fearow, use tri-attack!" The red trainer commanded.

"Fea…row!" The beak pokémon opened its mouth and wailed. First, a blast of fire appeared from its open mouth and hit Pikachu square in the face. Next, a bolt of thunder emerged and hit the electric rodent in the same way. Finally, a block of ice appeared from Fearow's mouth and hit Pikachu, sending it flying across the field, dragging the ground beneath it.

"Pikaaaaa…." The yellow mouse squeaked in pain.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed in worry.

"Good job, Fearow!" Leaf shouted. "Now use aerial ace!"

"Feeeearrrrrow!" The beak pokémon bellowed as it flew around its opponent before diving down at it as its body became surrounded by white streaks. It inched closer by the second, preparing to slam into the injured Pikachu.

"Pikachu, dodge it!" Ash pleaded.

"Pi-ka!" The electric rodent grunted as it struggled to get on all fours and jump away. But before it could gain its composure, the beak pokémon's white-streaking wing slammed into its small body and sent it tumbling backwards.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out worriedly.

"Fearow, hit Pikachu with another drill peck!"

"Fear!" The beak pokémon exclaimed as it took a U-turn in flight and went back to attack Pikachu.

"Pi…pika…" The electric rodent grunted as it saw its opponent coming around.

"Pikachu, use volt tackle!" The raven haired trainer ordered.

"Pikapikapikapikapikapikapika…" The yellow mouse repeated as it ran towards its opponent as its body was bathed in electricity, giving its fur a black-and-white appearance. As the flying-type came down, Pikachu jumped into the air and delivered a powerful electrically-charged tackle to its mid-section, sending it crashing down to the ground while sparking in electricity, signaling the status effect of paralysis as having affected it.

"Alright, Pikachu," Ash cheered. "Good job!"

"Fearow, it's not over yet!" Leaf exclaimed. "Come back into it!"

The beak pokémon managed to hover a few feet off the ground on its trainer's words and give out a call. Despite the type advantage of electric-types over flying-types, Fearow was certainly giving Pikachu a run for its money and making smaller flying-type pokémon look like nothing, at least to Ash.

"Pikachu, grab on to Fearow!" Ash commanded.

"Pi-ka!" The electric rodent exclaimed as it jumped on Fearow's back while the beak pokémon was loafing off. The flying-type quickly noticed its presence, however, and did its best to shake it off. However, it was unable to do so since Pikachu grabbed onto its feathers and held on tight. Even as Fearow flew around the field, upside-down or right side up, the yellow rodent kept its spot.

"Fearow, come on!" Leaf shouted, trying to help it.

Try as it might, the beak pokémon was unable to shake the electric rodent off its back. The only thing it could think of was to smash it into the ground, but it would run the risk of injuring itself in the process. As it began to fly faster, hoping to use wind to help it, Pikachu's trainer came up with a plan.

"Pikachu, time to use thunder!" Ash told it.

"PIKAAAAA…" The electric rodent began charging its power when it received its command. It was about to unleash its strongest special attack on a pokémon with a serious weakness to it.

"Fearow, you have to get it off!" Leaf urged it.

"Fe…Fear...Fearow!" The beak pokémon rumbled as it tried its best to shake off its stowaway, but to no success as the yellow mouse had seemingly finished charging.

"…CHUUUUUU…" Pikachu unleashed a massive unloading of electricity on its opponent. Yellow flashes of light filled the stadium and were even going out of the open sky roof and became visible to the people gathered outside the Battle Tower.

"FEEEEEAAAARRRR…" The beak pokémon shouted in pain at the electricity fried its already-injured body, damaging it to even greater extents.

"UUUUUUUU." Eventually, Pikachu ceased its attack on Fearow and the electric energy disappeared. However, the beak pokémon fell to the ground unconscious and just before crashing, the electric rodent jumped off and landed on the ground. With a *thud*, the beak pokémon landed on the ground, unconscious and defeated.

"Fearow is unable to battle!" Lance declared. "Red trainer, you are down to your final pokémon!"

At last, Leaf was finally down to her last, but most powerful pokémon: Venusaur. In a serious turn of events, Ash still had three of his pokémon left, one of which had yet to actually battle in the tournament. The crowd was keen to see how this was going to end, though a large number of them still preferred to have Leaf win over Ash.

"_At last…he's giving me the challenge I'd expect from him."_ Leaf thought as she looked through her bag.

After having come from three pokémon down to Leaf's just one, Ash had now knocked out four of hers, giving him the count advantage.

"It's all up to you!" Leaf exclaimed as she tossed her pokéball into the air.

The ball opened with a bright flash of red light and revealed her final pokémon: Venusaur the seed pokémon. Having evolved from its beginning stage of Bulbasaur into the big tank-built pokémon it was now, it was evident that it was truly Leaf's strongest and likely best raised pokémon.

"Saur!" The seed pokémon thundered, its voice bellowing all around.

* * *

"So Leaf's really down to her last pokémon here, huh." Brock observed.

Dawn nodded. "Ash has been making a serious comeback."

"I'd have been disappointed if the man who beat me had been defeated so easily." Brendan expressed.

"And now, Venusaur is Leaf's last chance to win." May observed.

"True, but I still can't count her out quite yet," Gary stated. "Venusaur is the strongest pokémon she's got."

* * *

"The red trainer has selected their final pokémon!" Lance announced. "Let the battle RESUME!"

"Pikachu, give your all with a volt tackle!" The raven haired trainer shouted to his faithful yellow mouse pokémon.

"Pikapikapikapikapikapikapika…" The electric rodent repeated as it ran towards its opponent on all fours as its body was surrounded by shining golden electricity.

Though its opponent was cruising towards it, the seed pokémon made no movements. It seemed almost as if it knew what to do by itself.

"…pikapikapikapi-ka!" The yellow mouse shouted as it jumped up with its charged body and prepared to deliver a hit to the seed pokémon. However, Venusaur had managed to catch Ash's pokémon in its vine whip tentacles while it was in midair, causing the electricity to dissipate and the yellow mouse to just hang there at the mercy of its opponent, unable to get free despite its struggles.

"Alright, Venusaur!" Leaf cheered. "You know what to do!"

"Veee…" The seed pokémon boomed as it wound up its vine whip similar to a baseball player preparing to throw a pitch. The yellow mouse was getting dizzier by the second and just as the whirling was speeding up, Venusaur let go. "…NUSAUR!"

"Piiii…" The electric rodent screeched as it was viciously thrown across the field at a harsh speed. After a few moments in the air, it created a crater when it landed on the ground before rolling backwards and tumbling over itself while lying on the ground.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed.

"Venusaur, time for earthquake!" Leaf called out.

"Venu…saur!" The seed pokémon bellowed as it jumped into the air and back on the ground, sending white shockwaves around the field. The electric rodent, being a ground-based pokémon was unable to escape these waves and was hit dead-on by them, sending it flying back across the field and nearly out of arena before it landed on the ground.

"Pikachu, are you alright!" Ash worriedly asked his faithful friend.

"Pii…ka…" The yellow mouse squealed as it attempted to get back on its feet but it was not to be as it immediately collapsed as it did. "Chaaa…"

"Pikachu!" Ash called out.

"Pikachu is unable to battle!" Lance declared. "Green trainer, choose your next pokémon!"

* * *

"I can't believe how easily Pikachu was taken out." Dawn commented.

"Well, it was pretty exhausted after fighting Froslass, Leafeon and Fearow." Gary stated.

"Leaf seems to have taken a page from your book, Brendan." Brock sarcastically commented.

"My book?" The Hoenn region trainer asked aloud.

"You know, because you had Swampert do the same thing to Pikachu when you battle Ash." Brock pointed out, referring to when Swampert caught Pikachu's tail and knocked it out when it tried to execute its iron tail technique.

"I don't remember." Brendan told him.

"Big surprise." May laughed.

* * *

Back on the field, Ash had brought Pikachu back to his side and taken out a pokéball from his belt.

"Go for it!" He shouted as he threw the ball, releasing the pokémon inside.

The red light which emerged from the capture device flashed brightly before forming Ash's fully evolved Hoenn region grass-type starter: Sceptile, who appeared in a sleek, bright fashion.

"Scept!" The forest pokémon resounded as it arrived on the field, ready to do battle with its Kanto region counterpart.

"I know what you're trying, Ash." Leaf told him. "But it isn't gonna work."

"We'll I guess we'll see about that, won't we?" He replied.

"The Green trainer has chosen their pokémon!" Lance declared. "Let the battle RESUME"

"Sceptile, use leaf storm!" The raven haired trainer commanded.

"Scep…tile!" The forest pokémon exclaimed as the seeds on its back began to glow white and it released a barrage of light green glowing leaves from all around its body at the opponent.

"Venusaur, seed bomb!" Leaf shouted.

"Saur!" The seed pokémon shouted as a white orb formed inside its flower. It then fired several white seeds from the orb at the incoming leaves, shredding most of them to bits but causing all the seeds to dissipate as well.

"Darn." Ash cursed. "Sceptile, use leaf blade!"

"Sceptile!" The fully evolved grass-type starter from the Hoenn region exclaimed as it got on its hind legs and bent down fast before jumping back into the air and making the razor-sharp leaves on its arms glow green before it placed them forward for the attack. These razor-sharp leaf blades pierced the air, creating a *whoosh* sound as they cruised by.

"Venusaur, use vine whip!" Leaf ordered.

"Venusaur!" The seed pokémon exclaimed as it released multiple vines from in between the leave and the flower on its back and raised them in the air. As Sceptile approached, each of its arm blades was swiftly taken hold of by the vine whip, preventing it from moving as it was dangling in midair.

"What the-" Ash blurted.

"Venusaur, let's finish this fast!" Leaf called out. "Use frenzy plant!"

"Venu…saurrrrrrr!" The seed pokémon boomed as it tosses Sceptile into the air while its body became surrounded in an aura and it released two energy beams from the sides of the flower on its back at the continent pokémon. The beams twisted around each other as they fired at Sceptile who was still up in the air. Eventually, the energy around the beams faded into two giant roots with large thorns on them, and hit the fully evolved grass-type from Hoenn, knocking it around hard. "Sceeeep." The forest pokémon bellowed in pain.

"Sceptile!" Ash called out as he saw his pokémon down on the ground in pain.

"Scept..." The forest pokémon grumbled.

"Can you still fight?" Ash asked it.

"Sceptiiile.…" The fully-evolved grass-type from Hoenn moaned as it managed to get on its feet with some difficulty and began sucking in energy from the open roof.

"Solar beam?" Ash questioned as he wondered why his pokémon was beginning to attack without his order, though he quickly shrugged it off. "Alright then!"

"Venusaur, you use solar beam!" Leaf commanded.

"Veeeee…" The seed pokémon bellowed as it began collecting yellow energy within its flower

Little by little, Sceptile gathered energy as fast as Venusaur was collecting energy. Yellow energy entered Venusaur's bulb while Sceptile's tail did the same, both having identically coloured energy due to the fact that both came from the sun.

Just as Sceptile finished absorbing its power, Venusaur also finished charging its attack. "SAUUURR!" The seed pokémon hollered as it unleashed its bright white beam of energy at the forest pokémon. "TIIIIILLLL!" Sceptile shouted as it fired its own bright white beam of energy at the incoming attack.

The two beams collided in the centre of the arena and pushed against one another in an attempt for dominance.

"Sceptile!" Ash called out as he saw his pokémon lying on the ground still.

"Sceptile is no longer able to battle!" Lance declared. "Green trainer, you are down to your final pokémon!"

* * *

Once again, Ash's defeat caused great joy for the majority of the audience who were on Leaf's side. Ash's friends were refraining from cheering for either person as best they could but still felt the need to have discussions about the match's progress.

"Can you believe how easily Sceptile was taken out?" May asked around.

"No," Brock answered. "And just after it used synthesis, too."

"If Sceptile is a grass-type, shouldn't solar beam be ineffective?" Dawn asked.

"That's not technically true." Gary told her. "Grass-types do _resist_ grass-type moves but that doesn't make them immune to grass-type attacks."

"That's unfortunate." Brendan commented. "And now he's down to just one pokémon."

"He didn't mention which pokémon it was to you, did he?" Brock asked around.

"No, he didn't." Brendan answered, earning nods from Dawn and May.

"_I don't see any real reason for him to worry."_ Gary thought to himself as he looked on at Ash below. _"He's fine."_

* * *

Back on the field, Ash had recalled Sceptile and taken out his last pokéball.

"_I was really hoping Sceptile and Pikachu would put up more of a fight against Venusaur."_ Leaf thought to herself as she saw Ash stare at the sphere in his hand.

Inside Ash's pokéball was his last shot to win it all.

His last chance to defeat Leaf, one of the toughest opponents he'd ever faced.

His final chance to win the Battle Spirits Tournament, the first big tournament-style competition of which he had ever reached the finals.

And bring himself a big step closer towards his goal of becoming a pokémon master.

"_It's all down to you."_ Ash relayed to his pokémon though his mind, almost as if he was trying to speak with telepathy.

The entire audience looked at him through the screens from all angles as he gripped his pokéball tightly and lifted his head.

He gestured himself into position and turned his hat backwards with his left hand as he threw his pokéball as hard as he could, while feelings of his first days as a pokémon trainer rushed back into his mind.

"I ch-…need you….." The raven haired trainer called out as the pokéball entered the field.

The pokéball opened up and released a flash of red light. The containment device returned to Ash as the light formed the final evolution of the fire-type starter pokémon from the Kanto region.

"…..CHARIZARD!"

"ZAAAAAARRRRDDD!" The large orange dragon roared ferociously upon exiting the pokéball and coming into the battle at long last.

The whole arena was awe struck by the appearance of Charizard, Ash's strongest pokémon. Lance, Tucker and Wallace admired the look of the flame pokémon, acknowledging its strength. Venusaur looked up with great interest and a grin crossing its face. Leaf was much more anxious now that she had ever been before this match.

Ash had initially planned to use Charizard for his stunt that Wallace had told him about; similar to how Leaf used Venusaur. However, he later decided against it for some reason, possibly because he didn't want anyone to see Charizard before it got to battle. But now, the audience had seen the flame pokémon and was awed by its magnificent appearance.

* * *

"Wow, so Ash's final pokémon was his Charizard!" May exclaimed.

"I never knew Ash had a Charizard." Dawn expressed.

"Me neither." Brendan added.

"It was one of the first pokémon he ever caught." Brock told them. "It used to disobey him after it evolved into the second stage of Charmeleon but one day, it started obeying him long after evolving into a Charizard."

"I still remember how he lost at the Indigo Plateau when Charizard refused to battle some kid's Pikachu." Gary commented. "Even at the Silver Conference Victory Tournament, Charizard lost to some guy's Blaziken."

"If I recall correctly, Charizard beat half your team even with disadvantages against your Golem and Blastoise." Brock countered.

"He did?" Brendan asked.

"He did." Brock answered. "So with Charizard on Ash's team, I wouldn't count him out."

"And Charizard has a type advantage over Venusaur." May pointed out.

"Well, if Leaf's proven anything, it's that type advantages aren't everything." Dawn said.

"But now it's the final battle." Brock said. "This is where it _ends_."

* * *

For the first time in the match, members of the audience aside from Ash's friends gave him applause. It wasn't much compared to what Leaf had gotten but considering their earlier behavior towards him, he appreciated it. Of course, it was hard to know if they were cheering for him or for Charizard, but it was practically irrelevant since he took it anyway. The cameras showed the fierce expression on Charizard's face and the interested one on Venusaur's.

"Charizard, it's up to you," Ash told it. "You're the last hope I have!"

"ZAAARD!" The flame pokémon roared loudly in acknowledgement.

"_At long last, he gives me the ultimate challenge."_ Leaf thought to herself. _"I watched the Silver Conference Victory Tournament"_

"The green trainer has selected their final pokémon!" Lance announced. "LET THE FINAL BATTLE OF THE BATTLE SPIRITS TOURNAMENT **BEGIN**!"

"Charizard, flame thrower!" Ash commanded.

"Zarrrrrr!" The flame pokémon shouted as the flame on its tail burned brighter than normal just before it released a powerful orange stream of fire from its mouth at its opponent.

"Frenzy plant!" Leaf ordered.

"Venu…saurrrrrrr!" The Seed pokémon bellowed.

As Leaf ordered it, Venusaur's body became outlined in a light green aura and it stomped on the ground. Immediately after, giant roots with spikes on them came out of the ground and produced a wall in front of Venusaur which blocked the flamethrower from getting through due to their thickness. The roots burned brightly before being reduced to ashes and scattering the field but leaving Venusaur unharmed. Ash was admittedly impressed by the strategy while Charizard showed Venusaur a look of serious contention.

"Venusaur, earthquake!" Leaf called out.

"Veeenu…SAUR!" The seed pokémon boomed loudly as it lifted its two front legs into the air and slammed them down into the ground. When it did, two pulses of energy erupted from its legs for a moment and a crack then travelled along the ground and towards Ash's pokémon. When it reached him, the ground underneath began to shake violently as Charizard lost its footing and fell backwards, landing on its back while the ground continued shaking violently.

"Charizard!" Ash worriedly exclaimed.

* * *

Up in the stands, the rest of the gang were discussing the recent events.

"If Charizard is part flying-type, shouldn't a ground-type move be ineffective?" May asked aloud.

"Actually, since it was on the ground, the earthquake _was_ effective." Gary explained. "If Charizard had taken off into the air, it would've been safe."

"Ash probably thought Charizard would be safe even if it stayed on the ground." Brock said.

"But Leaf's not gonna use a move unless she thinks it's gonna work." Brendan commented. "She seems to know Ash well."

"I guess this mean's Leaf's been analyzing Ash and not just his pokémon." Dawn stated.

* * *

"Charizard, get in close on Venusaur!" Ash ordered.

Obeying orders, the flame pokémon raced down the field to where the seed pokémon was, flapping its wings widely. Venusaur looked at its opponent as it came in and gestured back at Leaf who nodded back just as Charizard was coming within a few feet of striking distance.

"Venusaur, seed bomb!" Leaf ordered.

"Sauuuur!" The seed pokémon exclaimed as it opened its mouth and a white orb was formed inside of it. It then fired multiple glowing white seeds from its mouth at the flame pokémon and began exploding on impact with its abdomen.

"Charizard, use overheat!" Ash called out.

"Zaaaaarrrrrrrrr!" Charizard shouted loudly as it endured the seed bombs while its body turned red. When it began glowing brightly, it released a white fire with a red-orange flame spiraling around it from its mouth. The seed bomb attack's seeds were incinerated while the flames scorched Venusaur intensely, leaving it to wreath in the pain.

"Overheat gets weaker each time you use it." Ash stated. "The first time's gotta make it count."

"So…that's why you had Charizard get in close." Leaf realized.

"Bingo."

"Not bad, but it's fruitless cause Venusaur is still standing!" Leaf exclaimed. "Use vine whip!"

"Veeeen… " The seed pokémon bellowed as green tentacles came out from under the flower on its back and smacked the flame pokémon in the face repeatedly until, tired of the slaps, Charizard grabbed into the vines and held them tightly, preventing Venusaur from moving them. Or so it believed.

"Zaaar." The fully evolved fire-type starter from Kanto roared as Venusaur used its vines to toss it into the air and disorient it while it freed itself.

The flame pokémon rolled around in the air for a few moments while Venusaur shook its vines and prepared to retract them. But what happened next was certainly not expected by Ash. The seed pokémon's vines grabbed Charizard's feet and wrapped themselves around tightly. Charizard took notice and immediately attempted to fly away; however, Venusaur had foreseen that.

"Charizard, flame thrower!" Ash called out.

Just before Charizard unleashed its flames, Venusaur tugged the vines and Charizard's flames missed the seed pokémon entirely. Venusaur comically swung Charizard around the air for several minutes while it was attacking. But due to its lack of aim and disorientation, the flames never managed to hit the seed pokémon, or even scorch it, though it nearly scorched some members of the audience, making them even angrier at Ash, as well as nearly burning Lance, Wallace and Tucker. Eventually Charizard stopped the flamethrower, however, when it did, Venusaur forcefully used its vines to viciously smash Charizard's whole body into the ground.

"Charizard!" Ash exclaimed as he saw Venusaur retract its vines and left Charizard injured on the ground, struggling to get back to its feet.

"Zaar…za…" The flame pokémon grunted as it managed to get to its feet.

"Venusaur, time to use solar beam!" Leaf told her pokémon as she noticed Charizard struggle.

"Sauuuuuu…" The seed pokémon droned as it collected yellow energy from the sun into the glowing flower on its back in preparation for the solar beam. Charizard stood its ground, unsure of what to do next until Ash came up with a plan.

"Charizard, get up above Venusaur!" Ash told it.

The flame pokémon took off into the air, creating a gust of wind on the field from its wing flaps. It began to circle above Venusaur as it was gathering energy. Both trainers looked at their pokémon but Leaf had no clue as to what Ash was doing.

"Alright Charizard, use flame thrower!"

"Zaarrrrr…" The final evolution of the Kanto fire-type start roared loudly as it unleashed a powerful stream of fire from its mouth at its opponent below.

"Venusaur, quick, solar beam!" Leaf hastily exclaimed.

"Sauuuuurrrrr…" The seed pokémon bellowed as it fired its white energy beam into the air above where Charizard was situated and firing its own attack.

The two attacks collided in a bright flash of light which was all the more illuminating due to the cameras focusing on the clash and lighting up the entire arena as a result. The flame thrower pushed against the solar beam as intensely as it could while Charizard flapped its wings hard in an attempt to gather momentum and make the attack go down harder. Several moments passed as the two attacks pushed against one another but it was Venusaur's solar beam that was pushing harder due to its comparative strength and Venusaur's footing on the ground.

Before long, Charizard's flame thrower was quickly overpowered by the solar beam. All of a sudden, the beam burst brightly into the air and forced the flame thrower to dissipate as Charizard flew to the side as the attack headed into the sky, narrowly missing the large orange dragon.

"_Darn, not close enough." _Leaf reviewed. "Venusaur, frenzy plant!"

"Venu…saurrrrrrr!" The seed pokémon bellowed as it stomped the ground and brought up a large number of thick green vines covered in thorns.

"Time for the final move!" Ash shouted as he clenched his fist. "Charizard, you know what to do! Come back down."

Obeying orders, the flame pokémon flew back down to the ground, narrowly dodging the thick vines of the frenzy plant as it did. The seed pokémon angrily sent up more vines than ever before to bring down its opponent but to no avail as Charizard swiftly avoided the vast majority of them, only suffering minor scratches here and there.

"Bring it down!" Leaf yelled loudly.

"Saurrrr…" The seed pokémon shouted as it furiously brought up many more vines than last time. Charizard suffered more and more scratches than before as it glided around above Venusaur but did not get back down. The flame pokémon now hovered a dozen feet above Venusaur.

"Vine whip!" Leaf shouted.

"Veeeen…" The seed pokémon bellowed as it took out its green tentacles and reached toward the flame pokémon above. They slashed Charizard's back and snout multiple times, causing Ash's pokémon to yell out in pain while it still couldn't land as the field was covered in the frenzy plant.

"Charizard, steel wing!" Ash called out.

"Zar!" The flame pokémon roared as its wings took on a white glow and batted away the vine whip. Charizard immediately took to the skies and zoomed down to attack Venusaur while Ash looked on with a smile. When it was directly above Venusaur in clear view of all the cameras around the field, Leaf called out her next move.

"Seed bomb!" She exclaimed.

"Sauuuur…" The seed pokémon screeched as it fired several small egg-shaped seeds from the flower on its back at the flame pokémon above. The eggs exploded on contact and caused the white glow in Charizard's wings to fade as the final evolution of the Kanto region fire-type starter began plummeting towards the ground.

Oddly enough, the smile on its trainer's face remained.

"Zaaar…" The flame pokémon growled as it glided downwards. As it approached the ground, like a jet, it immediately took off again just as it was barely a foot off the ground and headed towards Venusaur. The seed pokémon looked on in confusion as its trainer was wondering what it would take to beat Charizard.

The final evolution of the fire-type starter from Kanto quickly zoomed over Venusaur's head and made a 180° turn in mid-air before it stopped flapping its wings and its body slammed down on Venusaur. The flame pokémon held a tight grip on its opponent as Ash shouted his command.

"SEISMIC TOSS!"

* * *

Rayquaza45: Holy crap, Ash can't be serious! What good is seismic toss? Well, here's a hint...it's not really seismic toss. 'Nuff said. Write a review plz.

I bet a lot of you guys wanted to see Charizard fully and now you have. I did take some liberty with his technique as you have seen (and will see again). Still, I hope you guys liked that.

So now Ash has caught up with Leaf in pokemon count but Venusaur just knocked out Pikachu and Sceptile with ease. It's happened to Ash in the anime before but now...Charizard is his last hope. Can he do it or is Leaf truly too strong for even him? Who will be the winner of the Battle Spirits Tournament

Next time -**Chapter 20: Till we meet again!**

So we've reached the end of chapter 19. Only two more to go. It's been a long road and it's nearly over. So please...write a review. Please.

Till next time! Please review!


	20. Till we meet again

Rayquaza45: Hey there, reader! Ready for the penultimate chapter in this fanfic!

I would hope so because it has been a long road to get here and we still have a little further to go before we're done.

When we left off, Ash had regained his composure and ability in battling and put himself back in the lead in his battle with Leaf, for a while. However, Venusaur has knocked out Pikachu and Sceptile and now Ash is down to his last pokemon: Charizard! The battle started off with Venusaur giving Charizard a hard time but now the flame pokemon has its opponent in a seismic toss and is ready for the final showdown!

So I hope you guys will read the chapter and take the time to review at the end. It's been a long road and I really wanna know what you guys think about my writing.

Let's get on with it! Please remember to review at the end! It's on!

* * *

**Chapter 20: Till we meet again**

The large orange dragon began roaring viciously into the sky as its trainer shouted his command. Its wings were flapping at an intense speed, sending dust flying all around the field, forcing both Ash and Leaf to cover their mouths to prevent themselves from inhaling it. Even the cameras on the bottom of the field were blocked by the sheer amount of dust flying around.

"_What the heck are you thinking, Ash?" _Leaf thought to herself.

The seed pokémon was quite startled as it could feel its big hulking body being lifted into the air, inch by inch, as Charizard continued to roar and flap, attempting to do everything it could to gain altitude for the attack. The sight was one to behold. Charizard managed to lift Venusaur into the air a little more by now by just grabbing onto its flower petals, subtly reaching closer to its body to get a better hold.

"Venusaur!" Leaf shouted as the dust had partially subsided enough for her to uncover her mouth. "Use vine whip!"

"Saur!" The seed pokémon bellowed as it took out its green vines and began whipping its opponent in the face. One after the other, the attack violently smashing into Charizard's eyes and nose, causing it to wobble just after it had managed to get Venusaur a few feet into the air.

* * *

Up in the stand, the entire audience's jaw had dropped at what they were seeing. The type difference between the two users was apparent enough for anyone to see that what appeared to a seismic toss attack was, at best, illogical and yet, Ash was trying it.

"I think he's really lost it." Gary commented. "Seismic toss isn't gonna do much damage to Venusaur."

"Yeah, Venusaur's a poison-type pokémon; this move won't have much effect." Brendan pointed out.

"_**Why**__ would Ash order a fighting-type move?"_ May wondered.

"He could have a plan." Brock suggested, sitting with his arms crossed.

* * *

"Zaar!" The flame pokémon shouted as it kept flying upwards with the massive seed pokémon in its claws, still enduring the beating from the vine whips.

"Keep going, Charizard." Ash called out to it.

"Pika?" The electric rodent next to Ash asked aloud as it looked on in confusion.

"_Venusaur can't use solar beam with its petals blocked off."_ Leaf angrily reasoned. _"And frenzy plant won't work in the air; I'll have to try something else."_

"Saur!" The seed pokémon bellowed as it continued hitting the unrelenting flame pokémon carrying it, now at a height of roughly 30 feet in the air.

"Come on, just a little bit higher, Charizard!" Ash shouted. "We can make it!"

"Venusaur, keep up the vine whip, and make it faster!" Leaf shouted.

"Zaaaaar!" The flame pokémon grunted as the vine whips became more and more intense as it got higher and higher. The increasing speed seemed to double the damage taken from a move with normally average strength, added to that, the fact that Charizard had twice the resistance to grass-type moves since it was both a fire-type and a flying-type.

The seed pokémon was now roughly 40 feet above the ground. Leaf didn't know how high Ash was planning to take it; but she knew it wouldn't be good.

"Venusaur!" Leaf called out. "You have to keep going at it!"

* * *

"This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen Ash do." Brendan commented.

"Even more ridiculous than-" May started before she was cut off.

"Let's not open that book." Brock suggested, putting his hand over May's mouth.

"_Forget about it, Ash. If you believe Charizard can beat Venusaur, it will."_ Gary communicated to his rival through his mind in a joking attempt at telepathy. _"You're in control."_

* * *

Try as it might, the seed pokémon could not get free of the flame pokémon's grip no matter how hard it tried. It was now being held by its skin by its opponent. Slash after slash, the vine whip wasn't working and Charizard had managed to carry Venusaur over 50 feet into the air by this point, suspending the audience's belief that it could not happen.

"We're almost there!" Ash cheered.

"Venusaur, seed bomb!" Leaf commanded.

"Saur!" The seed pokémon boomed as seed-shaped items were fired from its plant and into Charizard's stomach.

"Zaaar!" The flame pokémon roared in pain as it started getting hurt even worse, stumbling in its flight.

"How's it doing that?" Ash asked aloud.

"The sun's rays may be blocked off from Venusaur's petals, but it can still fire seed bombs from its flower!" Leaf explained.

"Sauuuuuur!" Leaf's pokémon shouted as it continued firing on Charizard. Nobody could actually see the seeds, but since they exploded on contact, the dust was visible between the two pokémon. The seed pokémon was now roughly 55 feet above the ground but the flame pokémon was in danger of being knocked out and dropping back to the ground, making its attempts useless. Finally, the raven haired trainer decided to enact his final plan.

"Alright, Charizard!" Ash shouted. "It's time! Toss him into the air!"

* * *

"What did he just say!" Brendan exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his seat.

"Toss Venusaur into the air?" Dawn questioned. "It's seems ridiculous."

* * *

"Zaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr!" The flame pokémon roared with all its might as it lifted its massive opponent and chucked it into the air above in what appeared to be an impossible feat.

The entire audience's jaw dropped at what had happened. Charizard threw Venusaur, a pokémon weighing much more than itself, up into the air. Even Lance, Wallace and Tucker were flabbergasted by the technique.

"Venusaur, your petals are free!" Leaf shouted as loud as she could to her partner who had been thrown up into the air. "Finish off Charizard with SOLAR BEAM!"

"Saurrrrrr…!" The seed pokémon shouted as it began charging energy inside its petals on the way up. Soon it would be able to fire the energy and hopefully crush Charizard.

But that wasn't where it ended, Charizard flew up and above Venusaur almost like a rocket before it got above the seed pokémon and though its opponent kept going upwards, Charizard still managed to stay ahead of it.

"Charizard, it's time for our finishing move! One nobody's ever seen before!" Ash shouted. "Use BLAST BURN!"

"Zzzzzzzz…" The flame pokémon growled as the fire on its tail began to grow bigger and brighter than ever before. Soon, the fire from its tail erupted into a ring of fire around Charizard's body as it looked up to see that Venusaur was just about ready to fire the solar beam. With its fire burning brighter than ever, Charizard took in one last deep breath. "…AAAAAARRRRD!"

With amazing intensity, the powerful and massive stream of fire erupted from Charizard's mouth almost like a volcano and spiraled downwards to where Venusaur was making its approach.

"SAUUUUURRR!" The seed pokémon bellowed loudly as it released a white beam from its flower, the force of which went straight up and collided with Charizard's blast burn.

The two attacks met with each other in mid-air and released a huge amount of energy. For Brock, May and the rest of Ash's friends, it was their first time seeing the fire-type variation of hyper beam. The force of the grass-type move it was using was sending Venusaur plummeting downwards to the ground. Charizard kept breathing the fire-type move as hard as it could while it flew down along with Venusaur, allowing gravity to help it with overpowering the solar beam.

Almost like a show of fireworks, small splatters of the elements were fizzing around from the attack and dissipating in the air or upon contact with the ground. The entire arena was illuminated with the bright flashes of lights from the attacks themselves as well as the cameras covering Venusaur's angle, Charizard's angle, the faces of their trainers and the collision between the attacks.

* * *

"This is the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen!" Dawn exclaimed as she covered her eyes with her hand due to the bright flashes of light.

"I've never seen _anything_ like this." Gary commented as he narrowed his eyes. _"They're both giving it all they've got."_

"Regardless of who wins, this is gonna be a fight for the ages." Brock expressed as he concentrated on the clash of powers.

* * *

"Zaaaar!" "Sauuur!" The two pokémon shouted with all their might as they kept up their attacks, neither one giving way to the other. Despite Charizard's type advantage, Venusaur was giving it the fight of its life with effective tactics by Leaf. Gary had been right all along, if Ash had battled her and expected to win on type advantages alone, he'd have had another thing coming.

Both of them were down to their last pokémon and if either Venusaur or Charizard gave out, it would spell the end for either of their trainers. Both had been with Ash and Leaf for the better part of their lives, for Charizard the emphasis was on _better_, and were determined to fight to the end for their trainers.

"This isn't the end, not by a long shot!" Leaf shouted. "I'm never going to give up on my pokémon!"

Just then, Venusaur landed on the field with a huge *thud* and firmly planted its legs into the ground. It raised the flower on its back as high as it could and kept firing its attack, hoping to overpower Charizard's blast burn. The cameras took notice and began zooming closer to Venusaur.

"I'm staking everything on me and my pokémon!" Ash announced to the whole arena. "I'll keep on going till I can't go anymore!"

* * *

"_This is the most intense battle I've ever seen." _Tucker thought to himself. In all his days at the Kanto Battle Frontier, no other battle had come close to the sheer epic nature of this one!

"_Whatever the outcome, these two will go far in the future." _Lance, the Johto region champion thought to himself.

* * *

Charizard could be seen still flapping its wings intensely, spewing the massive spiral of fire from its mouth as its tail burned brightly. The flame pokémon flew down foot by foot, closer and closer to Venusaur hoping to use its blast burn to stop the solar beam at the core and seize victory.

However antagonistic its feelings were for the seed pokémon at the beginning, it seemed that Charizard now viewed it as worthy opponent and wished to battle it to the final outcome.

"I can't believe all this power!" Dawn exclaimed.

"It isn't gonna be long, now." Brendan said, with his eyes focused only on the battle.

"They look so evenly matched." May pointed out, motioning to the centre of the collision which was seemingly in the middle between Venusaur on the ground and Charizard in the air, but closer inspection through the cameras revealed Charizard to have a longer stream going in comparison to Venusaur.

Brendan nodded. "For now."

* * *

On the battlefield, Ash and Leaf were looking at their pokémon, hoping that they would be able to outlast their opponent and claim victory.

"VENUSAUR, DON'T LET UP!" Leaf yelled, doing her best to encourage her pokémon. "YOU'RE **STRONG**!"

"CHARIZARD, GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT!" Ash shouted at the top of his voice. "**NOBODY** CAN BEAT YOU!"

"Pika, Pi PikaPi!" The electric rodent next to Ash cheered for its party member.

"**ZAAAAR**!" "**SAUUUR**!" The two pokémon shouted louder than ever. Charizard was pushing itself to its absolute limits and pushing back Venusaur as best it could. The spiral of fire was finally beginning to overpower the solar beam, much to Ash's delight and Leaf's dismay. The flame pokémon's wings were flapping harder than ever, almost like a humming bird's despite their size, as Charizard got closer and closer to Venusaur, who's attack began failing as the beam got more and more visibly weaker.

"Venusaur, no!" Leaf cried out. "Don't give in."

"It's our chance, Charizard!" Ash shouted. "Get in there and show 'em why we'll never lose!"

"AAAAAR!" The flame pokémon snarled in its fury as it glided down and pushed back the weakening solar beam with its blast burn. Venusaur was visibly struggling with the attack, doing its best to increase its own power and push back Charizard but failed to do so as Ash's pokémon came down on it.

Within a matter of moments, Charizard was right on top of Venusaur, its blast burn attack mere feet away from overpowering the solar beam and burning the seed pokémon to a crisp and ending Leaf's hopes of winning.

"Just a little bit more, Charizard!" Ash shouted to his pokémon. "Just a little more and it's all ours!"

"Sauuur!" The seed Pokémon boomed as it kept up its solar beam as best it could. But try as it did, its power was waning as Charizard came down even closer, now mere feet away from obtaining victory.

"YES, YES, **YES**!" Ash yelled at the top of his voice. "You can make it!"

"Venusaur, NO!" Leaf cried. _"It can't end yet!"_

At this point, there was absolutely nothing to save Venusaur. The solar beam was only hanging on by a thread and just barely keeping back the flames. The intense heat was getting to the seed pokémon and making it unbearable for it to withstand. As the raven haired trainer looked on at the scene, and at his girlfriend, he came up with the final words he wanted to convey.

"Leaf…this is the best battle I've ever had." Ash proclaimed. "I've been dreaming about a moment like this all my life and after all the time we've spent together, I've learned so much from you."

"_No…no."_

"I can't tell you how happy I am to have met you." He stated.

"_This…can't be…"_

"But now…IT'S OVER!" Ash shouted as loud as he could while clenching his fist. "CHARIZARD, BLAST BURN **FULL POWER**!"

"**ZZZZAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR**!" The final evolution of the Kanto region fire-type started roared as loud as possible. With one motion of its head backwards and then a powerful shot forward, Charizard's blast burn attack became even more massive than ever before.

The spiral of fire burned as brightly as its trainer's determination and his pokémon's fierce battle spirit. The orange and red flames were an amazing sight to behold as the grew and grew, totally encompassing Venusaur's solar beam inside and covering the seed pokémon in what resembled a dome of fire.

"VENUSAUR!" Leaf cried out at the top of her voice.

The spiral stream of fire from Charizard's mouth kept feeding the dome of fire covering Venusaur for a few moments till the flame pokémon started getting the feeling that its opponent wasn't fighting back anymore.

With one breath, Ash's strongest pokémon ended its use of the fire-type variation of hyper beam and glided down to the ground in front of Ash as the flames around Venusaur began dissipating.

The entire audience looked on as the flames were finally gone from the field and revealed what had become of Venusaur. The seed pokémon had been knocked unconscious and suffered a great number of burns from the flames. Leaf looked on in shock as her last hopes for winning the tournament were crushed. Almost all the cameras around the field depicted its lack of movements.

"**ZAAAARD**!" The flame pokémon roared proudly as it saw its opponent, utterly defeated after the long, grueling battle.

Brock, May, Brendan, Dawn and Gary stared at the defeated Leaf in a state of disbelief.

Lance, Wallace and Tucker took notice of the result as well.

"Venusaur is no longer able to battle, **Charizard wins**!" Lance announced to the world. "The red trainer is out of pokémon. The winner of the match and of the Battle Spirits Tournament is **ASH KETCHUM OF PALLET TOWN**!"

The entire audience erupted in cheers which could make a weaker man go deaf. Louder than ever before, they were cheering for Ash, which was a surprise considering their behavior at start of the tournament. The cameras focused on Ash's amazed expression, Charizard's triumphant grin and Pikachu's smile as the three of them relished in their victory.

After a long and winding road, Ash won the Battle Spirits Tournament. He stood triumphantly with Charizard in front of him and his Pikachu next to him. Whistles, cheers and applause were heard from every corner of the stadium.

* * *

"I really can't believe it…Ash _won_!" May exclaimed.

"It was the best match I've ever seen!" Dawn shouted in excitement. "Amazing! Totally amazing!"

"Sure was." Gary said. _"Good going, Ashy boy."_

"And so it began…" Brendan started.

"…and so it ends." Brock finished.

* * *

"_I…lost." _Leaf thought to herself in disbelief as her knees crashed into the ground. "It's…all over."

As she looked at the ground, trying not to look up for fear of letting everyone see the tears beginning to form in her eyes, she noticed a pair of shoes standing before her.

As she wiped her eyes and looked up, she saw Ash with Pikachu on his shoulder, smiling down at her.

"Ash?" Leaf asked the boy.

"That was the best battle I've ever had, Leaf." He told her as he extended his hand to her. "Getting to battle against you was what I've wanted for a long time."

"I know we promised that we'd battle each other here, but…" Leaf started. "but…I never thought about how hard it'd be to lose, least of all to you."

"If I had lost, I'd feel just the same as you." Ash told her. "But we both just fought the match of our lives…so far."

"Ok, Ash…you win." She sadly responded as she wiped her eyes and took out a pokéball. "Venusaur, return."

A red beam came out of her pokéball and covered the defeated seed pokémon, bringing it back inside its catching device.

"_Thank you for everything, Venusaur. You did great." _Leaf thought, holding the pokéball to her heart before she took Ash's hand and got to her feet.

As she put the pokéball back into her bag, she was caught by surprise as she was embraced in a hug from Ash. She was confused for a brief moment before smiling and hugging him back as everyone smiled at their affection. Their faces and hug were quickly picked up on by the cameramen who focused on them, playing to the audiences sensitive side.

"And with this, the Battle Spirits Tournament is officially **OVER**!" Lance announced. "Congratulations to ASH KETCHUM OF PALLET TOWN! The world of pokémon salutes you!"

Ash then motioned that he wanted to break his and Leaf's embrace to acknowledge the audience for a moment, which Leaf allowed him to do.

With a big smile on his face and his hands in the air, Ash Ketchum, the winner of the Battle Spirits Tournament waved to the audience.

"With this, we can now begin our crowning of the tournament champions!" Lance announced. "Will our top 3 contenders join us on stage, please."

Hand in hand, Ash and Leaf approached the referee podium which had just set up an Olympic-style stand to commemorate and award the prizes to the 3rd, 2nd and 1st place winners of the tournament. From his seat in the audience, Gary Oak also got up so he could join Ash and Leaf.

* * *

A few minutes later, the three teens were standing on the steps which represented their positions, Gary on the lowest reading '3rd', Leaf on the middle one reading '2nd' and Ash on the top one reading '1st'. Lance, Wallace and Tucker were standing by as well.

"And now, dearest audience and viewers," Lance started, trying to butter them up. "I present to you, the winners of the **BATTLE SPIRITS TOURNAMENT**!"

Everyone in the audience started cheering their heads off for the trainers. Since they started their pokémon journeys, they had all made great accomplishments and now they had one more to brag about.

"Before we present the awards, I would like to hand the microphone to my colleague, Hoenn region champion, Wallace!" Lance said.

"Thank you, Lance." Wallace said as he accepted the microphone. "As you all know, only trainers 18 and younger were allowed to put forth their names to enter this tournament. We would like to explain why the decision was made."

There was no speech in the audience as they were all eager to find out the reason behind the restriction. It was likely that many notable and strong trainers were upset at the fact that they couldn't enter since they were older than 18.

"Though there are many trainers in this would over the age of 18 with amazing skill, having passed said age, they were adults and had thus become the current generation of adult trainers." Wallace explained. "The goal of the Battle Spirits Tournament was to encourage younger trainers to take up the mantle and carry the torch once the current generation ends its prime."

Admittedly, the explanation did make sense to a lot of people. A fairly good amount of trainers 18 and under could and were recruited for the Battle Spirits Tournament and in truth, of all the elite four members in all of the regions, there was not a single one who was under 19. The idea of promoting pokémon battling to the younger generation in order to raise the next groups of elite four members was understandable. Even Gary, as a future researcher, knew it was up to him to take the mantle from his grandfather.

"Ash Ketchum, Leaf Green and Gary Oak." Wallace said, not directly to the trainers themselves, but to everyone present and watching on TV. "All of them are 14 years of age and will go far as they continue their pokémon journeys, no matter which path they take."

The audience clapped at Wallace's statement in agreement. Having seen them battle, there was no doubt that they'd all be successful in the world of pokémon.

"I now hand the microphone back to Lance so as to begin our awards ceremony." Wallace announced as he passed the device to his Johto region counterpart.

"Thank you, Wallace." Lance said. "And without further ado, we will now proceed."

The audience looked on as Tucker opened a small box, containing what appeared to be a bronze medal and some kind of paper underneath it.

"3rd place in the Battle Spirits Tournament is awarded to Gary Oak, of Pallet Town." Lance announced as he put the bronze medal over Gary's head while the young future researcher bowed his head. The cameras around the field showed the reception from varying angles.

"Thank you, Champion Lance." Gary said respectfully, his smile being seen all across in the camera screens.

Lance simply nodded his head at Gary's comment. "2nd place in the Battle Spirits Tournament goes to Leaf Green of Pallet Town." He announced.

"Thank you, very much." Leaf said as Lance placed a silver medal over her head.

"And at long last, we have arrived." Lance said as he opened a box containing a gold medal that was shining bright. "First place in the Battle Spirits Tournament goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

Ash's lower jaw had dropped as the words Lance said hit him. After everything he had been through, everything he had experienced, everyone he had met, he was now the Battle Spirits Tournament Champion.

"Congratulations, Ash Ketchum." Lance said as he placed the medal over the raven haired trainer's head, which was frozen in place.

"PikaPi!" The partially recovered electric rodent cheered for its trainer.

"Hey." Leaf whispered, nudging the frozen Ash as she did. "Say 'thank you'."

"Oh…uh…." Ash started as he came back to reality. "Thank you, Lance."

"No Ash, thank you." Lance responded. "Thank you for the amazing battle and thank you for becoming a pokémon trainer."

"It was just what I wanted to do." Ash laughed, scratching the back of his head. "It was really nothing."

"Not nothing, Ash, it was _everything_." Lance told him. "You were driven by your desires to become a pokémon trainer and make your mark on the world."

"I guess you could say that." Ash responded, now thinking about the reason he started his journey in a different way.

"In becoming a pokémon trainer, you've changed the way you lived your life." Lance explained. "It creates new roads and opportunities, not only for you, not only for trainers, but for all who choose the path of pokémon."

"You're right." Ash smiled.

"The future of our pokémon world is truly brighter than ever!" Lance announced. "And from this day forth, these three shall be known as the first ever placeholders of the Battle Spirits Tournament and henceforth be known as the '**Masters of Johto**'!"

The audience reaction was unbelievable. Whistles were as loud as cheers and applause. Numerous spectators were throwing roses and various other items into the arena, thanking them for the show they put on.

* * *

"I can't believe it's really all over." Dawn said.

"It almost feels like just yesterday that we all met at Leaf's vacation house." May expressed.

"Still, it's great what those three did for themselves." Brock stated before his face took on a confused look. "But to be known as the 'Masters of Johto'?"

"Somewhat illogical since none of them even live in this region." Brendan commented.

"You know what, you're right." Dawn had realized. "The winners of the top three positions were all Pallet Town Trainers."

* * *

"We will now present the additional prizes to our three top contenders." Lance announced as he then looked over to the Dome Ace of the Kanto Battle Frontier. "Tucker, if you will."

"Sure." The Dome Ace responded as he opened a small, golden coloured chest and walked up to the future researcher. "First of all, we issue our congratulations to Gary Oak, the third place competitor."

At this, a high pitched scream was heard from the audience. Nobody other than Gary was able to immediately figure out who it belonged to.

The grandson of the world's most famous pokémon researcher then looked at the item in the box. It was a small card with writing that was illegible from where he was standing.

"This is a pass to ride any sea travelling boat between the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh." Tucker explained. "The mere presentation of this card at any sea ferry terminal entitles you to ride to any of these four regions free of charge.

"It was quite a hassle to obtain through my Sinnoh region counterpart." Wallace explained.

"Thank you very much." Gary said as he bowed his head as Wallace placed a bronze medal over his head and presented the chest and the card it contained to him. _"This'll be quite useful for pokémon research."_

"And now, Wallace, if you please." Lance said as he looked towards his Hoenn region counterpart.

The Champion of the Hoenn region then approached Leaf with a gold chest similar the one which contained Gary's prize. Leaf began trembling with excitement as she saw Wallace approach.

"Leaf Green." Tucker said, holding out the chest which he then clicked open with his fingers. "This is in honour of your accomplishment on this day."

Leaf looked down at the opened chest and saw what her prize was. It was a card similar to Gary's prize, but unlike his, it was golden in colour, like the chest.

"This card is one which will permit you to purchase anything from a store in the Johto region at a discounted price." Wallace explained. "In addition to your shopping privileges, it will allow you to enter any and all of the restricted sections of Johto's Mt. Silver."

"Restricted sections?" Leaf asked. "What restricted sections are there in Mt. Silver?"

"There are some areas which the Pokémon League felt were too dangerous for all but the most skilled of pokémon trainers to enter." Wallace explained. "With this pass, you will be able to enter those areas on Mt. Silver, should you desire to do so."

Leaf was silent for a moment, contemplating the options she now had. Though she'd never heard of any areas on Mt. Silver that were not allowing trainers inside, despite the fact that the Silver Conference had always been held there annually, she now had to opportunity to go to those areas and see new types of pokémon.

"Thank you very much, Champion Wallace." Leaf said as she bent her head to allow Wallace to place a silver medal over her head and accepted the chest from the green haired Hoenn champion.

"And finally, your tournament champion, **Ash Ketchum**." Lance announced as Tucker gave him a gold chest.

This one wasn't much different from the ones Leaf and Gary received but it was was quite a bit larger than theirs.

"Ash Ketchum, for being the winner of the first ever Battle Spirits Tournament, we hereby present you with this prize." Lance said as he put the large chest in Ash's arms. The raven haired trainer opened up the chest, not knowing what to expect.

When he did open it, he found an odd yellow envelope. Clearly, the chest was just for show since the envelope was the same size as Leaf and Gary's cards. He opened it slowly after taking visual permission from Lance. Inside the envelope was a picture of what appeared to be a lighthouse with the title 'Liberty Pass' and had some words written under it:

_Use this special pass to take  
a ship from Castelia City to  
Liberty Garden._

Ash looked up for a moment and noticed that Lance, Wallace and Tucker were all smiling. He had no idea whatsoever where 'Castelia City' or 'Liberty Garden' were or what the pass was really for but was genuinely grateful to receive it nonetheless

"Thank you, all." Ash said in his most polite tone, which nearly sounded like a joke coming from him.

"We should be thanking you for putting on that amazing show for us." Tucker commented.

Ash bowed his head as Wallace placed a shiny gold medal over his head.

"Ash, you may not know what the Liberty Pass can be used for, but I'm sure that people who live far away may have a clue." Lance told him. "In the Unova region."

"Liberty Pass?" Ash asked. "Unova?"

"Pi?" Ash's faithful electric–type pokémon asked.

"That's right, Ash…and Pikachu." Lance said. "Unova is the name of a region that is very far away from here."

"Not a single one of the pokémon in that region can be found in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn or Sinnoh." Wallace explained. "Nor can any of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn or Sinnoh's pokémon be found there."

"And in regards to technology, it is even more advanced than these four regions." Tucker concluded. "The region blends high-tech cities with natural scenery and beauty which makes it the envy of much of the world."

"_Unova?"_ Ash thought to himself as he held the chest containing the item apparently called the 'Liberty Pass'. _"I'm gonna need to talk to Professor Oak about this."_

"In addition to the gold medal and the Liberty Pass, Ash, we have one more prize to award you." Lance revealed, surprising everyone.

"_One more?"_ Ash wondered to himself.

Lance then walked up to Ash and presented a large trophy to him. It had a bright golden colour painted on it and featured a humanoid standing on the base of the trophy with his right hand in the air, raising a pokéball to the sky. Ash chuckled to himself for a moment, remembering his first days as a trainer. On the bottom of the trophy, there were words inscribed:

"_BATTLE SPIRITS TOURNAMENT CHAMPION"_

"Thank you." Ash said subtly before raising his head with his medal dangling around his neck, his golden chest containing the Liberty Pass held in one hand and his trophy held in another. His full form was shown in the camera screens, standing tall and proud. "THANK YOU ALL!"

"We also have some more news we need to share." Tucker said, swiping the microphone away from a distracted Lance. "There will be a commemoratory ball held here on the 70th floor of the Olivine City Battle Tower for all 256 of the tournament participants!"

"What?" "Huh?" "Come again?" Those were just a few of the responses heard around the arena and audience stands after Tucker made his announcement.

"A commemoratory dance has been arranged to be held here tonight." Tucker explained. "The 256 participants of this tournament are all invited to enter. Entry to this event is restricted to them and them alone."

"Nothing was ever mentioned about a commemoratory dance before." Leaf pointed out.

"The decision was made only recently." Tucker stated. "Just yesterday, in fact."

"Isn't it gonna be pretty much impossible to hold a dance in this floor here?" Gary asked, surveying all the damage done to the arena by Ash and Leaf's battle.

"You needn't worry about that, Gary Oak." Tucker assured him. "The organizing committee has more than enough assets to get the job done."

"Keep in mind that it is a formal dance." Wallace told them.

"_Note to self: Get out of this!" _Ash urgently reminded himself.

"_I should have a dress somewhere in the house." _Leaf remembered.

"We hope to see all of the competitors there-" Tucker started.

"And with this….." Lance said as he took the microphone back just as fast as he lost it, leaving Tucker bewildered. "The Battle Spirits Tournament is **OFFICIALLY OVER**!"

"Pika Pika!"

After this announcement, there was no cheer. It was a bonanza with an applause from a standing audience. Confetti, balloons and streamers began falling from the ceiling and covering everything. Gary, Leaf and Ash got off their stands, carrying their chests and items with them.

Brendan, Brock, Dawn and May got up from their seats to meet them at the bottom so they could leave together.

* * *

When the seven teens finally met near the exit, Dawn immediately leapt into the unopened arms of Gary, who struggled to hold on to his golden chest.

"So…it's all over?" May asked.

"Not yet." Leaf smiled as she turned to her raven haired boyfriend. .

"We still have _tonight_ to look forward to." Ash sarcastically grumbled under his breath.

* * *

The hours passed like clockwork as Leaf found her dress in the attic. Brock and Gary opened up their suits to check up on how they looked while Dawn and Leaf did the same for their dresses. Brendan, who as expected, didn't have a suit, ended up having to go out and buy one with May at his side, dictating his every choice.

At roughly 10:30pm, the seven teens left Leaf's vacation house and headed off to the Battle Tower. Brendan and Gary both wore black suits with white shirts underneath and a blue and red tie, respectively. Brock wore a white suit with a white shirt and a white tie, hoping to look as unique as possible. They all wore black dress shoes.

Most comically, Ash attempted to get out of the event by faking an illness from the stress of the battle. Leaf, of course, did not fall for it and caught him messing around with a thermometer by using a flashlight. Eventually, he was forced to put on his freshly-ironed black suit, white shirt and green tie, in addition to actually combing his hair for once.

Of the girls, Dawn wore a sky blue dress with long leggings and fancy black shoes. May's dress was pink and she wore brown shoes with it. But what Ash paid attention to most was Leaf's dress. Hers was a fancy green dress with glittered beads down the side which managed to make it look classy and rather elegant. Her hair was flowing down her back and she also wore nice, expensive, white high heel shoes.

Pikachu, being a pokémon, expressed its wishes not to wear clothes. Ash managed to convince Leaf not to dress up the electric rodent in a suit belonging to a toy in the attic.

The group soon arrived at the Battle Tower and proceeded up the elevator to the 70th floor. No tournament entry cards were necessary for Ash, Brendan, Leaf and Gary since everyone knew who they were while May, Brock and Dawn had to present theirs.

After a few minutes, the elevator arrived at the 70th floor and opened everyone's eyes to an amazing sight.

The entire floor had been converted into a dance hall. But not any dance hall, it looked like a ballroom inside a 5-star hotel. The entire area may very well have never been used as the site for a massive battle. Neon lights were placed around the ceiling and some of the walls, adding a flashy, yet elegant aspect to the area. None of the cameras which were in place for the battle were visible, implying their removal.

On a newly built stage were Lance, Wallace and Tucker, all of them in tuxedos, sharing a few laughs over drinks.

"Wow!" Dawn exclaimed as she looked around. "I know they said the organizing committee had the assets to fix the place, but this seems like it would've taken weeks!"

"I know, right?" May agreed. "They did a great job."

"Piiiiii!" The electric rodent pokémon on Ash's shoulder said in amazement as it looked around.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Pikachu?" Ash admitted to his best friend.

"Shall we go?" Gary asked in a gentleman-like fashion as he held out his elbow.

"Sure." Dawn smiled as she hooked herself on his arm and went with him.

"I think we ought to go too." Brendan said as he held out his hand towards May when he saw Dawn and Gary leave.

"I think you're right." May laughed as she took her boyfriend's hand, waving bye to Ash, Leaf and Brock, who had noticed someone out of the corner of his eye.

"Excuse me, guys." The tall, brown-haired trainer said as he walked away.

His reason for coming to Olivine City was two-fold. On one hand, he'd wanted to compete in the Battle Spirits Tournament and on the other hand, he'd wanted to meet up with a certain girl again.

* * *

"Excuse me." Brock said as he approached a light brown haired girl in a silver dress while her back was turned.

"Yes?" She asked as she turned around, noticing Brock standing there in his white suit. "Brock?"

"Hello Jasmine." He said to her. "I guess I could've expected the Olivine City gym leader to be here, even if she didn't compete."

"They hold a tournament in my city, you can be sure I'm gonna be there for the party." She answered back. "What have you been up to?"

Brock decided not to answer her right away and simply began to say what he came up to her to say. "I've heard about you and I want to say, I understand your reasons for turning me down back then."

"So then…you've met Steven?" She asked.

"I have and he's among the nicest guys I've ever met." Brock told her. "But I still feel the need to say that you and I would have gone great together as well."

"I understand where you're coming from, Brock, I do." She told him. "But with Steven and me, there's a spark which always flickers. Just knowing isn't enough, you have to go beyond that and take every possible outcome into consideration."

"I agree." Brock answered as he turned around and walked off.

Moments later, a tall man with silver hair walked up next to Jasmine and handed her a drink. He was wearing what was probably the fanciest tuxedo of all the men present, complete with highly fashionable shoes, a nice tie and a solid gold wristwatch with encrusted diamonds.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"Oh, just a guy I met a while back." Jasmine answered. "You wanna dance, Steven?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Leaf was still at the entrance, while Ash had offered to get her a drink, when, just then, a boy in a tuxedo bumped into her. Both of them immediately recognized the other.

"Landon!" "Leaf!"

The two of them exclaimed at the same time. It had been quite a while since they'd seen one another and after the leak to the media about Ash and Leaf's relationship status, the 2nd place winner of the tournament was curious about what he had been up to and wanted to ask him. Until, the gossip girl's ex-boyfriend spoke first, wanting to express his views right away.

"Leaf, I don't know if you saw what happened on TV a few days before the tournament," He started. "But Miranda and I were found by some new reporter and-"

"It's alright." Leaf cut him off. "I was watching it with Ash, we know it was her who leaked the gossip about us to the media. I also know that you dumped her right there and then."

"You're right, I did." He said. "I could never be with someone whom I couldn't trust with the secrets of my friends and I."

"I get where you're coming from, but even then, wasn't dumping her in front of the camera a little harsh, even for that?" Leaf asked.

"Maybe." He shrugged. "Some people just won't listen to you unless you pull out all the stops."

"Alright," Leaf subtly laughed. "I'd have to agree with you there."

At that, Landon curtly nodded and walked off. Miranda was nowhere to be seen; Leaf reasoned that she didn't plan to attend. She was now comparatively happy about having been forced to battle her to get past the second preliminary round.

The brown haired 2nd place competitor of the tournament walked toward the centre of the dance hall as she saw Ash coming back. The beads in her dress began sparkling under the bright, yet delicate neon lights.

* * *

Near the tables holding the punch bowl and snacks, Brock was looking down at his cup while he carefully poured himself a drink as some slow song was playing in the background. Unlike his usual smile, his face showed signs of boredom and sadness. After all the things that had happened during the tournament, it seemed he was the only one without a significant other. As he stood there, drinking his punch, a lady with green hair approached him from behind.

"Brock?" She asked him while his back was turned.

"Hello?" He asked aloud, turning around to see who was behind him. When he saw the girl looking at him, he got the strangest feeling of deja-vu.

She was a girl roughly the same age as him wearing a fancy, long red dress with her green hair flowing down. As he looked at her, he suddenly remembered who she was.

"Wilhelmina?"

"Glad to see you haven't forgotten me, Brock." She smiled.

"I never forget a pretty face." He said confidently, hoping to hear a laugh.

"Oh, Brock." She laughed, fulfilling Brocks hope. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Well you're even more beautiful that last time, if that's at all possible." He told her as he handed her a glass of punch.

"I've missed that sense of humor of yours, Brock." She told him as she accepted the glass. "I guess you must've been competing in the tournament?"

"Well I did compete in the preliminaries, but I never made it out of them." He admitted.

"That's unfortunate." She said.

"Hey, wait, did you compete in the tournament too?" Brock asked her, remembering that only people who had entered the tournament were allowed to attend the ball, judges, and referees, Lance, Wallace, Tucker, Steven Stone and Jasmine aside.

"I've never been into competitive battling, to be honest." She answered.

"But I thought only tournament participants were allowed to attend." He inquired.

"Well, I got permission to attend from my uncle." She explained.

"Uncle?"

Just then, a tall man with pink hair approached Brock from behind.

"Hello Brock." He said. "I see you've met my niece."

"Hello?" Brock asked as he turned around and then saw the man standing behind him. It was none other than Tucker, the one who had refereed many of the battles in the tournament and promoted it.

"Tucker?"

"Hi there, Uncle Tucker." Wilhelmina said, surprising Brock as he repeatedly moved his head back and forth between the two.

"Are you telling me your uncle, the one who invited you here, is Dome Ace Tucker of the Kanto Battle Frontier?" He asked frantically.

"That's right." Wilhelmina happily smiled.

"She told me she'd be in Olivine City to watch the tournament after I told her I was there and she decided to come." Tucker explained. "When she found out about the ball, I just couldn't say no after she'd come such a long way."

"And that's why I'm here." Wilhelmina stated.

Seeing Brock and Wilhelmina together, Tucker decided that he'd overstayed his welcome in their conversation and it'd be best if he left since he could do so without worries. After all, she wasn't _his_ daughter.

"So, what'd you think of the tournament?" Brock asked her.

"All the trainers who entered were really skilled." She said. "It's like Lance said; the future of pokémon battling is really bright,"

"I'd have to agree with you there." Brock responded as he looked around at all the trainers he remembered watching.

As the song entered its second-to-last chorus, Brock and Wilhelmina looked at each other and communicated with their eyes and took a few steps towards each other and began dancing.

* * *

Away from Brock and Wilhelmina, in a corner of the dance hall, Dawn Berlitz and Gary Oak were slow-dancing while the song finished up and the music for the next one started. They began looking into each others eyes and smiling, Dawn could barely do it since she kept blushing.

_You've been such a good friend,  
I've known you since I don't know when.  
We've got lots of friends but they come and go._

"What's wrong?" The future researcher asked his girlfriend as he noticed that she looked kind of down.

"Oh, it's nothing." She said, putting on a false smile to make his think everything was alright.

_Even though we've never said it,  
There's something that the two of us both know:_

"Come on." Gary said, his eyes narrowing at Dawn's expression. "I know you better than that."

"Well…it's just that…" She paused.

_Together forever, no matter how long -_  
_From now until the end of time._  
_We'll be together, and you can be sure_  
_That forever and a day,_  
_That's how long we'll stay,_  
_Together and forever more._

"Go on." He encouraged her.

"I'm going back to Kanto to compete in pokemon contests." Dawn told him. "But you're going to Sinnoh."

"Yeah, I have to complete my research and meet up with Professor Rowan again." Gary stated.

"It just feels like we're not gonna see each other again for a long time." She explained.

_Always gone that extra mile,  
Depended on you all the while.  
Even in the good and bad times you will see -  
From now until our journey's end,  
You know you can always count on me._

"Even if it takes a long time, I can work through it, knowing that you're gonna be there." Gary told her.

"Gary…." Dawn responded, acknowledging the sweetness in his words.

_Together forever, no matter how long -_  
_From now until the end of time._  
_We'll be together, and you can be sure_  
_That forever and a day,_  
_That's how long we'll stay,_  
_Together and forever more._

"This song kinda describes us, wouldn't you say?" Gary asked Dawn.

"I'm not sure." She smiled. "Nothing was really in our way till now."

_No matter where our destiny leads,  
I'll be there for you,  
Always come through,  
And that you can believe._

"Making friends here really was the best part of being here." Gary said. "Aside from being with you."

"How true." Dawn laughed.

_Together forever, no matter how long -  
From now until the end of time._

"So what are you gonna do?" Dawn asked.

"I'm continuing with my true calling." Gary stated. "I will be the world greatest pokémon researcher one day."

_We'll be together, and you can be sure_

"Nice to see you're not exchanging reality for a personal fantasy." Dawn said.

_That forever and a day,_

"Guys think about reality a lot more than girls think they do." He retorted. "Some even plan out their future."

"Is that true?" She questioned, somewhat seriously.

_That's how long we'll stay,_

"Sure is." He smiled. "But wondering about who I'm gonna be with is something I won't have to do."

"Why's that?" Dawn asked, already suspecting his answer.

"Because I have _you_." Gary truthfully answered as he pulled her in for a kiss before she even realized it.

_Together and forever more!_

* * *

On the opposite side of the hall were Brendan and May. They had been dancing a lot faster than Brendan was used to so he'd briefly stopped to catch his breath.

"How is it someone like you can't keep up with me?" May asked, handing him a glass of water.

'You'd be surprised what I'm capable of.' He jokingly responded as he thankfully accepted the water as the next song began playing.

_Pokémon-mon-mon  
Pokémon-mon-mon  
Oh yeah!_

"Whoa! Brendan exclaimed as he realized what was playing. "I love this song."

_Pokémon-mon-mon  
Pokémon-mon-mon  
Pokémon-mon-mon  
Pokémon-mon-mon_

"Let's go!" He said excitedly as he put down his glass of water and took May's hand and dragged her to the floor.

"And here I was thinking you were too tired." May laughed.

_The journey's just begun  
The more the better_

"Call me a quick healer." He smirked.

_Villains are on the run  
We're friends forever_

"Check it out." Brendan told her as he cleared some room around them to get ready for his big bang.

_You've got the power  
Right in your hands_

May immediately covered her eyes as she realized what Brendan was about to do. As other former participants looked at Brendan, who took a deep breath and began subtly moving from side to side, one boy in a green tuxedo decided to get out his cellphone and film the spectacle.

_They'll evolve before your eyes  
A world of magic  
At your command  
You can be a master if you try_

Brendan started dancing various moves originally performed by a couple of well-known performers of the 1980's. While the people around him began to laugh subtly, the 4th place winner couldn't care less, reasoning that it was his last day to do whatever he wanted and so he'd spend the night having fun.

_Pokémon-mon-mon  
Pokémon-mon-mon  
Pokémon-mon-mon_

"May, come on!" Brendan called from the centre.

"_Oh no." _The brunette coordinator worried as other guests were looking around, wondering where she was.

_Searching everyday  
For the answer  
No time to delay  
This grand adventure_

"Alright then!" Brendan shouted out as he finally realized that May was not coming.

As expected, Brendan began to dance again. But this time, he began performing a move known universally as the 'moonwalk'. The people surrounding him suddenly started cheering as he was actually pulling it off quite well.

_Oh yeah  
Pokémon, you've got the power  
Pokémon, yeah_

"Ughh." May grunted as she waded through the crowd around her dancing boyfriend. "Brendan!"

"Wassup!" He called back as he saw her standing in front.

_Pokémon, you've got the power  
Pokémon, yeah yeah yeah yeah_

"What are you doing!" May shouted at the top of her voice over the music.

"Dancing?" He asked her back, hoping he was giving her the right answer.

_Team united, we'll always win  
Together we stand tall_

As Brendan continued his moonwalk in front of the crowd, he turned around, in order to execute the next part of the move as planned, but was surprised to see that May was there as he did and she was looking right into his face. But somehow, she wasn't angry, she looked a little more sad than angry.

"I'm sorry." She told him. "I'm overreacting."

"Whaaaa?" Brendan jokingly exclaimed. "No. It's fine."

"I'm coming."

As she did, Brendan held out his hand to take her into the move. She smiled and took her boyfriends hand and spun herself towards him, smiling at the cheers of the crowd. Brendan continued his moonwalk while May began subtly moving as the music continued.

_Unlock the secrets deep within  
Learn to be the greatest of them all_

_Pokémon-mon-mon  
Pokémon-mon-mon  
Pokémon-mon-mon_

"Go Brendan!" A boy in the crowd cheered. "Bust a move!"

Taking the cue, the 4th place winner of the tournament ended his moonwalk when the next line of lyrics began and began performing various hand motions while moving his legs.

_The journey's just begun  
The more the better  
Team Rocket's on the run  
We're friends forever_

You've got the power  
You've got the power  
You've got the power

"Brendan." May said as she stopped dancing and turned to her boyfriend.

"Huh?"

_Pokémon, oh yeah..  
You can be a master if you try!_

"During this tournament…." May started. "I've really enjoyed my time with you."

"So have I." Brendan responded.

"After this…the Johto Grand Festival starts up." She revealed. "I've gotta compete."

"I know." He smiled.

"Being involved in pokemon is one heck of a commitment." Brendan laughed. "But it's the most fun you could ever have, I think"

"My life's never been the same since I went on my journey." May said. "I've had a lot of good and bad times…but I'll never forget the day I met you."

"Me neither." Brendan said. "You were so awesome."

May laughed. "I probably wouldn't have made it out of there if not for you."

"You gave me the will to fight." He said. "No joke. You've given me the best time of my life, May."

May blushed. "So have you."

"I love you." He told her.

"I love you too." She replied.

_There's no time to delay, delay, delay, delay...  
You've got the power!_

* * *

In the centre of the dance hall, Ash Ketchum, winner of the 1st annual 'Battle Spirits Tournament' and his girlfriend, Leaf Green, runner up of the 1st annual 'Battle Spirits Tournament', were holding each other closely, subtly moving to the music.

Ash's faithful Pikachu had gone off by itself to eat since the trainers weren't hungry. Furthermore, the electric rodent knew it needed to give Ash and Leaf some time alone together.

They knew that their future goals would have to drive them apart for the time being and this was their last night together since they'd have to go their separate ways soon, because Leaf had to participate in the Johto league and Ash had to keep traveling.

"The Silver Conference starts up soon." Leaf said.

"I know." Ash responded. "And you have to compete, don't you?"

"Well…yeah." She said, somewhat hesitantly. "But…"

"There's no 'buts' Leaf." Ash told her as music began to play in the background. "It's like when we found out we had to compete against each other in the finals. We couldn't let the other get in front of our dreams."

_One world**:** One world**:** Now and forever, best friends**:** Best friends**:** Loyal and true, one dream**:** One dream**:** Side by side; _

"Today, I found out about a new region far away." Ash continued, lifting up her chin as he continued to talk. "While you're competing here in Johto, I'll be working my way towards the league battles there."

_There's nothing we can't do!_

"It's just so hard." Leaf complained, he voice slightly cracking.

"I know it is." Ash said, his eyes sadly glistening with the reflection of the neon lights above. "I can't help it."

_One hand**:** One hand**:** Helping the other: Each heart**:** Each heart**:** Beating as one: We live**:** We live**:** Always together**:** Sharing the same bright sun _

"Even if we're far away…I'll always be thinking about you." Ash told her, holding her by the waist. "Nothing will stop me."

_You & Me & Pokémon!_

"Oh, Ash." She sadly replied. "No matter where you are, I'll be thinking about you."

_Till the end, I will be with you  
We will go where our dreams come true.  
All the times that we have been through  
You will always be my best friend!_

"Make sure you never let anything or anyone stop you, Leaf." Ash told her.

"You too, Ash." She said, lightening up a bit. "Go beyond the impossible."

_Till the end, I will be with you  
We will go where our dreams come true_

"I think I've heard that somewhere before." Ash chuckled, looking towards Brendan in the distance.

_All the time, that we have been through  
You will always be my best friend!_

"I think you're mistaken." Leaf laughed for the first time that night with Ash. "I said it cause if anyone can, it's you."

_One world_

Half way through the song, Ash held Leaf closer than ever as they gently moved from side to side. Her head was nuzzled up against his chest as they began thinking about the song and they way it related to them and everything they had done together.

_A magic feeling_

_Best friends  
It's grown so strong  
One dream_

_Always leads me to the place where I belong  
One hand  
Won't go away  
Each heart  
Never let me down!  
Best Friends  
We got the greatest friends that ever could be found  
Across every river, behind every tree, You & Me & Pokémon, Pokémon!_

"You made me so much happier than I've been in a long time, Ash." Leaf said, breaking the silence.

_One world, one world  
Now and forever_

"I've met you after such a long time." Ash told her. "That's been the best part of the tournament, for me."

_Best friends, best friends  
Loyal and true_

"So tell me, then…" She started. "…would you wanna compete against me again here?"

_One dream, one dream  
Side by side, there's nothing we can't do!_

"I dunno." Ash shrugged. "There are a lot of other things for us to do in this world aside from fighting in tournaments."

_One hand, one hand  
Helping the other_

"Still, it wouldn't be the worst thing if we all met here again one day." Leaf said. "Competing against one another again."

_Each heart, each heart  
Beating as one!_

"I agree." Ash said, turning on a smile. "But if we ever do compete again, I'm gonna win again."

_We live; we live, always together  
Sharing the same bright sun_

"That's what you say." She smirked. "I say _I'm_ gonna win next time."

_You & Me & Pokémon_

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Ash smiled as he pulled her closer.

Both of them started kissing with all the passion in their hearts. Passion built from their relationship, their lives so far, their lives during the tournament and their lives to come. They were still young people in this big wide world and the future had many more things for them to be a part of.

_You & Me & Pokémon_

After 10 seconds of kissing, they finally broke as Ash took Leaf by the shoulders and looked deep into her beautiful brown eyes.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too." She said back.

**_One world!_**

* * *

Rayquaza45: So now there it is. The Battle Spirits Tournament is officially over and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town is the champion. He also gets the girl of his dreams.

Man, this was a hassle to write but I never wanted to stop. I dislike good fanfics that end in the middle abruptly and never have any updates even for years and I adamantly refused to let this story be one. I had that massive 9 3/4 month delay between chapters 17 and 18 and that was hard on both readers and myself. I still feel sorry about that. But now, the great tournament is entirely over. Ash wins, Leaf takes second and Gary Oak holds third. Not a bad run for the Pallet Town trainers.

For the record, the pokemon music is meant to be a tribute to where the show began.

Originally, I planned to have this be the last chapter but after a little thinking, I've decided to have an epilogue so we can see how everyone really went about their business after the tournament concluded. Where's Dawn? Where's Brendan? Where's Brock? I hope you guys will read, find out, enjoy and review it when it's up cause I guarantee it won't take too long to arrive.

So I wanna thank Gerbilftw for all he did as I wrote this story from beginning till now till the end. He's a great writer and a great guy. Hope I'm not embarrassing him **:)**

Now I humbly request you to write a review of this chapter if you liked it and even if you did cause I wanna listen to your honest (constructive, non-flaming, non-bashing of anything) thoughts. I'd really appreciate it cause I value all of my readers and friends I've made here on this website.

Thank you and stick around for the epilogue and final chapter. I'm sure you'll like it.

Till then! Please review!


	21. Epilogue

Rayquaza45: Hello there readers! It has been a long road and I can't express how thankful I am to you guys for sticking with me all the way through to the end of this story.

This will be the final chapter and the closing of 'Masters of Johto'. Here, you'll find out about the main characters of this story and what they have been up to since the Battle Spirits Tournament ended two weeks ago. Not just Ash and Leaf, but the characters of May, Brock, Gary, Dawn and Brendan. You'll see who they are with and what they plan to do in the future.

So there's been a relatively small gap between the posting of this chapter after the last one. I mean, it's only been about 9 days. But after that unbearably long 9 and 3/4 month period of no updates, I think you guys deserve to have a chapter posted early. And now, there is only the epilogue which is much smaller than the last two chapters.

I hope all of you enjoy it and review at the end to tell me your (non-biased and non-flaming) thoughts. Not only about this particular chapter but about this story in general. From the beginning to the end, the things you liked and the things you maybe felt could be improved. I'm always open to constructive criticism and I hope I can improve my writing ability in the future.

And although I've thanked him before for what he's done for my story and he's responded "I don't really consider what I do to be work/beta reading.", I want to thank **Gerbilftw** for everything he has done to help me bring this story to completion. It would not have been as good as it was without his help (I'm sure he won't deny _that_). Thank you for everything, my friend. All the error point-outs, suggestions and such have helped me as a writer and it's thanks to you, my first beta reader and the best friend I have here on this website. Thanks.

So without further ado, the epilogue to 'Masters of Johto'.

* * *

**Chapter 21: Epilogue**

Down a long and wide path surrounded by long blades of green grass and flowing water leading up to a pokemon centre, a teenage girl walking the path stopped to look up at the sky as she noticed a small formation of clouds resembling the smiling face of a notable raven-haired trainer. The sight in the sky made her giggle as she remembered what it meant.

_I can't believe it's been two weeks since the "Battle Spirits Tournament" ended. It feels like it was just yesterday that I showed up at the Battle Tower and put the future winner into silent mode. I learned a lot by entering that tournament, about pokemon and about life. I really wish I could see Ash again but being a pokemon master requires a lot of dedication and the whole reason I was in Johto was to compete in the Silver Conference. I already have seven of the eight badges and I just got to Blackthorn City, which is where the final gym is. I heard from that old man Pryce in Mahogany Town that the leader here was pretty tough, but after battling Gary and Ash, I think I can handle it._

"Welcome to the Blackthorn City pokemon centre." The ever-present Nurse Joy greeted Leaf as she entered the building through the automatic glass doors.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy." Leaf said as she put her bag on the table and took out her pokeballs. "Could I get my pokemon healed up?"

"Certainly." Nurse Joy said as she took the pokeballs and put them on a tray. "Oh, Chansey."

"Chansey, Chansey, Chansey, Chansey, Chansey." A pink egg-like pokemon wearing a nurse's hat chanted as it came along and took the tray with Leaf's pokeballs on it to another room.

"Will you be staying the night?" Nurse Joy asked Leaf after Chansey had gone.

"Yes." Leaf nodded.

"Alright, I'll have a room ready soon, in the mean time, why don't you stay in the reception area or take a walk through Blackthorn City."

"Sounds good." Leaf smiled as she turned around and headed out the door.

Blackthorn City was quite a bit bigger than most other cities in Johto. There were buildings that rivaled the height of most of Goldenrod's though none that came close to the Olivine City Battle Tower. People were walking this way and that in the busy streets, many of them staying away from the gym.

A few minutes later, Leaf had arrived at the Blackthorn Gym. It resembled a fancy old-style building with a red roof and two dragon statues at the entrance. As Leaf was admiring the architecture, the doors opened and a boy was frantically running away, carrying what appeared to be an injured Sandslash on his back.

As he ran further down, Leaf approached him.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"The gym leader here…she's a total killer." The boy frantically panted. "I gotta get to the pokemon centre."

As the boy ran past her and down the road she had taken, Leaf began thinking that this final gym challenge may not be as easy as she thought.

Still, she wasn't going to let that get to her as she turned around and went back to the pokemon centre, now having realized that she needed to rethink her strategy before she challenged the gym tomorrow.

Late that night, Leaf lay in her bed, staring up at the night sky through her window. It was on a night like this that's she'd seen Ash again for the first time in years. Thoughts of her time competing in the Battle Spirits Tournament filled her head.

_I've changed so much after the tournament…and now I'm gonna be entering another big one.__ They say the entries for this years Silver Conference are even larger than the ones of previous years. Needless to say, the next little while is gonna be crazy.__ But I still need one more badge before getting to the conference. After it's done though, I really just wanna meet up with Ash again…and everyone else too. But__ first Blackthorn City, then the Johto league. I'm so excited!_

* * *

Walking up the stairs leading to the entrance of the Sinnoh Battle Tower and looking out into the sky was Brendan Birch, the 4th placing contestant in the Battle Spirits Tournament. He had now arrived at the Sinnoh Battle Tower with the intention of challenging it and setting a new record.

"Man." He said to himself in exhaust as he got up the last step.

As he looked up at the massive building, thoughts filled his head about the similar one in Olivine City and the time he'd spent there and the friends he had made.

_Hey there, Brendan Birch, son of Hoenn's leading researcher here. It's been two whole weeks since the Battle Spirits Tournament ended. Overall, I came in 4th out of the 258 trainers who entered, not bad really. In the end, it was Ash who won the whole thing when his Charizard beat Leaf's Venusaur. I still can't believe what a fight that grass pokemon put up though; Leaf's trained it really well. After the tournament I visited my parents back in Littleroot Town and now I'm out here in Sinnoh to set another record in the Battle Tower. They just recently fixed it up after this long haired guy's Darkrai and Latios trashed three of the battle fields a few months ago, so everything's set for me now._

As Brendan entered the tall building, he walked over to the reception desk to get signed up to take the challenge. For some reason, no other person was in the line.

"Excuse me." He said to the receptionist.

"Hello." She smiled at him. "Welcome to the Sinnoh Battle Tower. How may I assist you?"

"I'm here to participate in a single battle match." Brendan told her.

"Very well then." She told him as she gave him a pass with the number '1' written on it. "Please take the elevator to the seventh floor."

"Thanks." He said as he took the pass and headed for the elevator.

A few minutes later, Brendan entered the field and looked around, only to see that the only one there was the referee who was standing on his podium with a flag in each of his hands.

"Excuse me!" Brendan called out. "I'm here for the single battle match."

"Yes, well, your opponent had to go briefly." The referee explained. "But he will be returning soon."

All of a sudden, the door on the other side of the field opened and out came a teenager the same age as Brendan. He had long dark-blue hair and wore a red cover over his clothes. He took his position on the field and looked over at Brendan as a smirk formed on his face.

"Speak of the devil." Brendan commented.

"Welcome back, Brendan." The boy said. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon after your last defeat."

"You're not gonna beat me this time, Tobias!" Brendan exclaimed as he took out a pokeball and threw it into the air. "Go!"

The pokeball opened up while in the air and released a flash of light. It soon took form in front of Brendan on the field and revealed itself to be Swampert, the fully evolved water-type starter from the Hoenn region.

"I'm gonna win it this time!" He proclaimed.

"Swampert!" The mud fish pokemon bellowed, supporting its trainer in his statement.

"Don't bet on it." Tobias responded as he threw a pokeball in the air, which opened up and created a flash of light. Down zoomed a blue and white dragon-type pokemon known as Latios which hovered above the field, ready to battle Brendan.

"Let's go!"

Fifteen minutes later, Brendan was sitting in the lobby of the pokemon centre alone. There were many Chansey running around, taking care of the injured pokemon.

_Okay…so he won. But at least this time I was able to put up more of a fight than before. How exactly is a guy supposed to beat a legendary pokemon like Latios anyway? At least the battle field is still in one piece. I really can't imagine what May would say if she found out about this. After going our separate ways after the end of the tournament, May stayed in Johto to compete in the Grand Festival. I've really begun to miss her more than ever, I wonder if she's thinking about me now. One thing's for sure, I'll bet she's thinking about me. And as for me, well…I sure could go for some lemonade right about now._

* * *

In the small southwest corner of the Sinnoh region, in her home of Twinleaf Town, Dawn Berlitz awoke from her sleep one morning. Dressed in her normal pink pajamas, she stood up and stretched her arms out while yawning, her long blue hair flowing wildly.

After Dawn got dressed in her usual outfit, she proceeded downstairs. Upon looking around, she noticed that her mother was not there, which was unusual. Her faithful Glameow and Umbreon were missing as well. The smell of eggs and bacon filled the room as her faithful pokemon companion, Piplup, came from around the corner.

"Piplup?" The penguin pokemon asked its trainer.

"Piplup, did you see mom anywhere?" Dawn asked it, hoping that it would have some clue as to her whereabouts.

The small blue penguin just pointed to the refrigerator. "Pip."

The blue haired coordinator followed the directions of her pokemon and approached the refrigerator and noticed something taken a few weeks ago.

It was a picture of her, Gary, May, Brendan, Brock, Leaf and Ash. It had been taken on the night of the celebration held in the Olivine City Battle Tower after the tournament had ended.

_I guess that means it's my turn. Hey there, Dawn here. The "Battle Spirits Tournament" is over and I've returned to Twinleaf Town. I know I was gonna go to Kanto for pokemon contests but Buneary got the opportunity to participate in a pokemon fashion shoot and I just couldn't let that go to waste. Spending time with my friends during the tournament was just what I needed to psych myself up for the road to come and now that they're all off doing their own thing, I'm gonna do mine._

As Dawn continued to look over the picture on the refrigerator, she noticed that beneath it there was a note addressed to her:

_Dawn,_

_I went to Professor Rowan's lab._

_Come meet me there as soon as you can._

_Mom_

"I guess I'd better get going." Dawn said. "Come on, Piplup."

"Piplup!" The penguin pokemon happily cheered as it left.

After a quick bike ride with Piplup sitting in the basket, Dawn arrived in Sandgem Town and spotted Professor Rowan's lab off the corner of the road.

"There it is, Piplup!" Dawn exclaimed.

Dawn quickly took a turn and parked her bike outside of the building as Piplup hopped out of the basket and walked alongside his trainer. She then opened up the door and opened her eyes to a huge surprise.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" A large group of people shouted at the same time.

A large banner written "CONGRATULATIONS" was hanging from the ceiling and beneath it, her mom, Professor Rowan and his many assistants were gathered.

"Mom…Professor Rowan…what is all this?" Dawn was completely stunned at the display.

"Pip?" The blue penguin pokemon questioned.

"Hermione the designer called and said that it isn't just Buneary, but all of your pokemon which have been offered spreads in this months 'Pokemon Fashion Monthly' magazine." Johanna explained.

"And when your mother called the professor, he let her set up this celebration here." One of the assistants stated.

"It is truly amazing how much you have accomplished since you first got your pokemon, Dawn." Professor Rowan said. "You've grown up so much."

"Wow." Dawn blurted in a state of amazement. "Thank you so much, everyone."

_It isn't very often that you catch a lucky break. After getting knocked out in the top 16 round of the tournament I was really depressed but then Gary helped me get through it. He came to Sinnoh as well, he had to do his research on the local pokemon, but it's been a while since I saw him. I still keep in contact with May and Brendan and Brock too, they're all off somewhere else having fun and last I heard, Ash as in a region called Unova. I don't know where that is, but I get the feeling that I'll be seeing him again someday. And as for Gary, I'm sure I'll be seeing him again soon._

* * *

In the region of Johto, in the centre of the bustling city of Goldenrod, a brown-haired coordinator wearing an outfit consisting of a green bandanna, a red orange sleeveless T-shirt with a black collar, black bike shorts, black socks, and red and white sneakers walked with three other people by her side.

As she strolled along the sidewalk, she looked to her right and noticed a small television playing the final battle between Ash and Leaf from the 'Battle Spirits Tournament'.

_Hi there, it's me, May. The 'Battle Spirits Tournament' is over. I've returned to Goldenrod City to compete in the Johto Grand Festival. Drew, Harley and Soledad are competing as well. The appeal round starts tomorrow and if I make it past that, I get to enter the actual battles. Soledad may have beaten me in the Kanto Grand Festival but I'm sure I can win this time. Harley's been acting his usual self and Drew was pretty mad when he heard about me staying in Leaf's vacation house with Ash, but more specifically, Brendan. Personally, I say he's just in denial…and he refuses to believe that Brendan's hair is really black._

"The Grand Festival is gonna be held at the contest hall near the radio tower so I say we get rooms at the pokemon centre." Soledad suggested.

"I find it strange that they're having it here in the city rather than at Mt. Silver." Harley said.

"Probably some cheap organizer's way of saving money and getting max media attention." Drew spat, flicking his fringe to the side.

"Well either way, I'm glad we don't have to travel too far to compete." May commented.

"I'm sure you've have enough traveling after going off to Olivine without telling us." Drew snidely commented.

"You mean without telling _you_." May stressed. "I told Harley and Soledad the day before."

"We wished her good luck and told her to do her best." Harley continued.

"And she did the best she could, coming in the top eight and losing to the guy who'd get to third place." Soledad finished.

"That's not the point!" Drew exclaimed with his hands by his side, in a claw-like manner.

"I think he's just jealous." Harley laughed, putting his hands on Drew's shoulders in a comical, falsely sympathetic manner.

"Get off me." The green haired coordinator shouted, moving his shoulders in such a way that Harley's arms came off.

"Temper, temper." Harley said, smiling.

"Come on Harley, leave him alone." May laughed. "He's had enough."

"Yes, Harley, it's entirely enough." Drew said, dusting off his arms. "Don't you have a meeting with the other losers to get to?"

"Aren't you late for your meeting with the rest of the village people?" Harley asked, eliciting laughter from May and Soledad.

"Hardy-har-har." Drew sarcastically said while turning away from the rest of the group and walking down the street. "I'm going to the Goldenrod Plaza Hotel, feel free to stay in your cramped pokemon centre as long as you like."

"As long as it takes for you to leave Johto." Harley retorted as Drew walked away.

"Oh, come on, Harley." May said.

"I guess he can dish it out, but he can't take it." Harley observed.

"Well it occurs to me that he's not that great at dishing it out either." Soledad laughed.

_I'm sure Drew's gonna get over it eventually, it isn't the first time we've done this kind of thing to him. The Grand Festival is gonna be tough and if I do well, I'll probably end up facing off against him. After the 'Battle Spirits Tournament', I think I'm ready to get back into contests again, since it's been a while. I really hope I can see Ash and the others after it's done. I still can't believe how I ran into them that night at Leaf's house by pure coincidence. Brendan and I were really lucky to have that happen to us because without everyone there cheering for us, we may not have done as well as we did. Whenever we do meet again, I'm know I'll be looking forward to it and if we ever end up in that situation again, I'm gonna go above and beyond!_

* * *

In the Kanto region hub known as Pewter City, the older brother of the town's gym leader and his new lady friend were visiting the museum in hopes of familiarizing themselves with its recent additions as well as spend some time together.

"And this exhibit here is thought to be the fossilized remains of a pokemon called 'Dragonite." The museum guide explained.

"Dragonite isn't an ancient pokemon!" A boy in the back rudely commented. "Lance of the Elite Four uses one!"

"Actually, Dragonite is thought to have lived since the Iron Age and has somehow managed to remain in existence till today." The guide stated, leaving the child speechless as the future breeder with the perpetually shut eyes watched.

_Brock here. Life after the end of the 'Battle Spirits Tournament' has been awesome. Wilhelmina and I are visiting the Pewter City museum, they just got some recent fossils in from the Hoenn region, they say they belonged to a Relicanth. She's been staying with my family at our house for the last two weeks but she says she has to go back to her house in the Johto region soon. I'm not sure if I'll be able to go with her though; my parents disappeared again so the house is my responsibility now. _

"Just goes to show you what you can learn anywhere, I guess." Brock commented, having listened to the museum guide.

"And from anyone." Wilhelmina finished. "Let's check out the Aerodactyl exhibit on the other end."

"Sure, honey." Brock said in an almost husband-like manner.

As the two of them moved on to the largest exhibit in the museum, they passed by numerous other, smaller and less interesting ones till they finally saw the one they were looking for.

It was a full-scale recreation of the ancient pokemon with everything in place. It was strung from the ceiling to give the visitors an impression of the fearsomeness it displayed as it flew the skies. Brock and Wilhelmina looked up at it with awe, Brock particularly considering that he'd seen it in action before.

"Did you know that Ash was once captured by an Aerodactyl?" Brock asked.

"What?" Wilhelmina replied. How could such a thing be after all, it was an extinct pokemon. "I though Aerodactyl were no more."

"It's just an urban legend." Brock explained. "But Aerodactyl still exists, and Ash was captured by one."

"How did he manage to survive?" She asked.

"His Charmeleon evolved into a Charizard and rescued him."

"The same Charizard that defeated Leaf Green's Venusaur?"

"The one and only."

_Man. I wonder how Ash is doing. This is the first time in a long time that I haven't been traveling with him in some new region. I know he's gonna do well wherever he goes, cause he never ever gives up. Gary, Brendan, Leaf, Dawn and May aren't in the Kanto region anymore either so that makes me the only one here. But I know all of them are doing well at their own thing. As to Wilhelmina and I, I'm just working hard so we can enjoy what time we have left together and remember those moments till we meet up again._

* * *

Near the laboratory of Pokemon Professor Rowan, located in Sandgem Town of the Sinnoh region, a cab pulled up and flipped open its trunk. Out of the backseat stepped out a boy with brown hair wearing a black half-sleeved polo shirt and blue jeans.

He took out a suitcase from the open trunk of the cab and passed over a few bills to the driver of said vehicle. Once the cab drove away, he walked up the steps of the building and knocked on the door.

A girl wearing a black sleeveless top and pink shirt with a white hat opened the door and put a surprised look on her face as soon as she saw who was standing there.

"Gary!" She shouted as she leapt off the floor and hugged him as hard as she could, unintentionally knocking him back and her going down with him.

_That's right; your favourite researcher is here. Gary Oak's the name and studying's the game. Well, not exactly but it's really important. After the 'Battle Spirits Tournament' ended, I went back to Sinnoh to study a little more about the ancient legends involving Dialga and Palkia as well as the peculiarities of the pokémon like Nosepass that evolve in the Mt. Coronet region. _

_But yesterday, I got a call from Dawn's mother, Johanna, who mentioned the good news about Dawn's pokemon opportunity and said she was throwing a surprise celebration party at Professor Rowan's lab. Well of course, I had to come but I decided to be fashionably late and create a scene, though maybe I took it a bit too far._

The brown haired future researcher started getting a little embarrassed as Dawn's mom, Professor Rowan and all his assistants saw the two of them lying on the grass, with Dawn on top of Gary.

"Well…uhh…" He nervously started, subtly shifting Dawn off him. "How's everyone been?"

There was silence for a few moments as the adults looked at them but before long, they all started laughing at them. Two assistants came down and got both Dawn and Gary back on their feet. The young coordinator began regretting her actions.

"Uhhh…Gary, how've you been?" Dawn nervously asked.

Seeing her embarrassment after her actions, Gary put on a confident smile and replied. "Well I'm fine, how've you been?"

"I'm fine." She replied, her normal demeanor partially restored. "I'm heading over to Hearthome City tomorrow."

"I heard. Congratulations on your shoot." He said. "Knock 'em dead and bring back the heads."

"Oh, Gary." She giggled. "You never do change."

"I could, but then I wouldn't be that same researcher you met way back when." He shrugged. "Let's go back inside; I think everyone's anxious to get their party on."

When they heard Gary, Johanna and the rest of the adults turned around and proceeded back inside. Fortunately for Gary, this was exactly what he wanted because as soon as all their backs were turned, he took Dawn's hand and spun her into a kiss.

It'd have been impossible if anyone else was watching due to the intensity between them. Both of them had their eyes closed and were pressing up against one another pretty hard for a few seconds until they realized they may have been going on too long and broke. The two of them began staring at one another as Dawn was wondering what Gary was thinking.

"I'm coming with you to Hearthome City." Gary told her.

"Really?" She gleed.

"Really." He smiled. "I wouldn't miss it."

"That's awesome." She said as she started hugging him as hard as she could. "We're gonna have an awesome time together!"

"I know." Gary told her. "But now, we're gonna have an awesome party."

"Race you!" She shouted as she turned around and ran back inside the lab while he walked.

_Yeah, life is good. Even in Sinnoh, I've been getting a lot of recognition after coming in 3rd at the 'Battle Spirits Tournament' and a lot of fangirls have been chasing me around. Of course, there's only one girl for me. First Hearthome City, then we'll go wherever the wind takes us. _

_It's been a little while since I talked to Ash. Last I heard, he was in some place called 'Unova'. I've never heard of it since it's so far away but I guess that's to be expected. Who knows; maybe my research will take me there someday. Ash is a great trainer, that's why I know he's gonna do well wherever he goes. _

_Brendan, Brock, Leaf, May…and even Lucas. I know where some of them are, some of them I don't. But I do know this: we will meet again. And when we do, whether it's for a tournament or just to hang out, I'll be there._

* * *

Far off, in a region called Unova, on a dirt path leading into a forest, a boy with raven-coloured hair sat with his back against a tree staring up at the clouds in the clear blue sky. Next to him was his faithful electric rodent, Pikachu, lying on the ground with its eyes closed as its trainer was deep in thought.

_Hey there, this is Ash Ketchum, the winner of the first ever "Battle Spirits Tournament." When I first heard of it, I was just excited about the prospect of going to a competition to win and prove myself to be the best. But after getting there I found so much more. New friends, new rivals and old figures from the past. And Leaf. She's still in Johto, getting ready to compete in the Silver Conference while everyone else went their separate ways after the tournament ended. Me? I'm in a region called Unova. It's really far away from Kanto and it has so many places and Pokemon I've never seen before. I'm gonna compete in the league here like I did in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto and Kanto before it. It was really hard to separate from Leaf, but we both understood what it takes to become pokemon masters and we've agreed to meet up when we're both finished._

As Ash and Pikachu sat with their backs to the tree, staring up at the sky, Ash was thinking of his brown-eyed girlfriend and wondering if she was thinking of him too at that moment. Suddenly, a girl his age with dark skin and dark purple hair appeared in his face. Next to her was a small olive green pokémon with a fin on its head.

"Ash, what's up?" She asked, surprising him and making him reel backwards and hit his head on the tree trunk.

"Arrgh." He grunted as he stroked his aching head. "What is it Iris?" He asked.

"Pika?" The electric rodent next to Ash asked.

"Axew." The small pokemon muttered to itself in annoyance.

"Cilan says he's found the route to the next city." She told him as she offered her hand to help him up. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah...I guess." He grunted as he took her had and got on his feet.

Far away from them stood a boy wearing a white shirt, a black and gray vest with gold buttons, a green bow tie, black pants, and brown shoes. Next to him was a small, crab-like pokemon. They were both waving to Ash and Iris, gesturing down a long road.

"Come on, you two!" He called out. "The day's a-wastin'."

"Let's go!" Ash enthusiastically shouted as he and Pikachu ran down to the green haired boy.

"Oh, brother." Iris complained, thinking of how silly Ash acted sometimes.

As he ran down the path, the raven haired trainer noticed a formation of clouds high in the sky that somehow resembled the hat worn by a girl he once knew. The yellow rodent on his shoulder noticed it as well. He started looking up at the sky as he remembered his past adventures with his old friends.

The raven haired teen soon stood at the top of the hill looking down at the path with a smile on his face as he thought about his time in the Battle Spirits Tournament.

**(Play: 1st English Pokemon Theme)**

(Back in Pallet Town, Ash had gotten out of bed only to find that his mother was not there. After heading over to Professor Oak's lab after directions from Pikachu, he found her. After sitting down on the couch for a moment with Gary and Dawn, Ash discovered the upcoming Battle Spirits Tournament being held in the Olivine City Battle Tower in Johto.)

(Though undecided about which pokémon to take at first, Ash eventually settles on Pikachu, Infernape, Torterra, Sceptile, Snorlax and Glalie. Dawn and Gary had also chosen their pokémon. Back at Ash's house while the raven haired trainer packed his stuff, an old friend shows up to accompany them and compete as well. The gang welcomes Brock as they later board a ship.)

(Shortly after registering, Ash and Gary are soon met by a familiar face. A blast from the past from before they went on their journeys. Leaf Green, a girl they grew up with was participating in the tournament as well. Her reappearance makes Ash happy but nervous and quiet at the same time for some unknown reason. She invited them to stay at her vacation house and they soon meet up with Ash's old friend May from Hoenn and her friend Brendan, son of Professor Birch.)

(Thanks to a picture of a kiss on the cheek, Ash ends up revealing his historic crush on Leaf as the reason for his nervousness around her, as well as being the reason why he never showed interest in another girl. The first two preliminary rounds conclude without a hitch but after being romantically rejected by Olivine City's gym leader Jasmine, a heartbroken Brock is knocked out in the third preliminary round while the rest pass.)

(Ash and Leaf end up alone on the Olivine Pier together on what appears to be a date, orchestrated by Leaf with everyone's help. Though it goes well, the method of having been separated from Pikachu angers Ash and he holds a grudge against Brendan. In the top 16 round; Ash, Brendan, Leaf, May and Gary are victorious and proceed while Dawn is knocked out of the tournament, having been angered with his remarks towards her pokémon and having been overpowered by his aggressive style of battle.)

(While Dawn contemplates her loss, she thinks a little more about her relationship with Gary. Meanwhile Ash forgives an apologetic Brendan over his hand in orchestrating the date. In the top 8 round, Ash defeats an old friend of Dawn's, Lucas. Brendan and Leaf win their rounds against tough trainers while Gary defeats May to make the semifinals.)

(Ash finally goes on a real date with Leaf and learns some valuable lessons in life from Steven Stone, Jasmine's boyfriend, and even Landon, a boy who he'd beaten in the preliminaries. The story of how the 'kissing' picture was taken is revealed and Ash and Leaf finally become a couple. They promise to meet one another in the tournament finals and make it a huge battle.)

(The semifinals conclude with Ash pulling of a hard-earned win against Brendan while Leaf takes on and defeats Gary in an equally hard battle as the latter ponders his own history with the brunette. May comes to regret some comments she made about Ash in the heat of his battle against Brendan but is undoubtedly forgiven. Her relationship with Brendan also takes another step as she remembers the times he battled and defeated her rival Drew.)

(The relationship status between Ash and Leaf makes the headlines of an Olivine City newspaper, thanks to an anonymous source. The source is revealed to be Miranda, boyfriend of Ash's old partner Landon from the preliminaries and Leaf's former partner as well. After revealing her deception, she is dumped by Landon on live TV. Meanwhile, Ash's 'friend' arrives for the finals.)

(The third place match between Brendan and Gary takes a shocking turn as the grandson of Professor Samuel Oak defeats the son of Professor Birch to take the position of third place in the tournament. However, the Hoenn region trainer is not entirely sad about his loss, having realized there's more to pokémon battles than winning and losing and that learning is important too as he reflects back on his first day as a trainer, how he woke up on time, chose Mudkip and even saw the legendary Kyogre.)

(The finals of the Battle Spirits Tournament do not go well for Ash, initially. He's overly aggressive, gives himself disadvantages intentionally and focuses a lot on attacking, unlike how he normally battles. By the intermission, he is down by three pokémon while Leaf still has five. However, the surprising return of Lucas and his words of encouragement and support remind Ash about where his true strength lies and helps him return to the battle field to face Leaf, full of confidence.)

(Realizing his true abilities, Ash manages to use his last three pokémon to defeat many of Leaf's and when her Venusaur knocks out two of his last three, Ash is forced to pull out his final pokémon and his secret weapon: Charizard! Despite its disadvantage, Venusaur holds its own against the flame pokémon thanks to its own power and Leaf's strategy. Finally, Ash calls out for a seismic toss and has Charizard lift Venusaur into the air.)

(Charizard carried Venusaur high into the air, despite the seed pokémon's repeated attempts to get free. The flame pokémon tossed it high into the air and quickly zoomed past it before launching its blast burn attack. Venusaur attempted to fight back with solar beam and actually managed to hold its own briefly but Charizard proved to be too powerful as the stream of fire engulfed the seed pokémon and knocked it out, ending the battle and making Ash the winner of the Battle Spirits Tournament.)

(After the awards ceremony, where Ash, Leaf and Gary were awarded with their prizes, there was a commemorative dance announced for all the participants of the tournament. Naturally, Ash ended up going as did the read of the gang. It was here at this dance that Ash and Leaf announced their future plans to travel in the Unova region and compete in the Johto League, respectively. Knowing that their paths would separate them but also that they would meet again once more, the two trainers declare their love for one another and share one passionate kiss.)

**(End theme)**

_It may be a while till I see Leaf again, but at least I can meet her knowing that I gave it my all in the Unova league just like I'm sure she's gonna do well in Johto. My new friends Iris and Cilan are pretty interesting people. Iris kinda annoys me a bit here and there and Cilan's a bit eccentric but we're all really good friends who support each other at what we do, just like all the times I travelled with my other friends. Gary...Dawn...May…Brock…Brendan…and even Lucas…all of them are off doing their own thing somewhere, and wherever that is, I know that we're always gonna be the best of friends, cause that's the way we should be._

"_And so…it begins." _The raven haired trainer of Pallet Town, Ash Ketchum, thought to himself as he ran down the hill with Pikachu on his shoulder and his two new friends in pursuit, berating him for running away from them as he simply laughed and thought about all the adventures he would have in this brand new, unknown region. He was on his way to being a pokémon master.

* * *

**Rayquaza45:** So there you have it. Ash Ketchum, the winner of the tournament is in the brand new Unova region with his new friends Iris and Cilan. Leaf and May are in the Johto region. Gary, Dawn and Brendan are in Sinnoh while Brock remains in Kanto. The gang has split up but no matter where they go, they will always be connected.

Oh, and for those who were wondering about the series of lemonade jokes that have existed since chapter 4 and usually surrounded Brendan, gear up cause I'm gonna explain it to you:

* * *

It was April 2010 and I was watching 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'. In his opening monologue, Jay mentioned a new study that stated that soft drinks such as pepsi reportedly reduced the fertility of a man's...you know. And his lead guitarist, Kevin Eubanks, commented that people should be drinking 'hard lemonade' as an alternative.

Subsequent to this, Jay messed up one of his jokes and Kevin poked fun at him for it. When Jay inquired as to what Kevin said, Kevin merely responded "Nothing, I was drinkin' my lemonade!" I actually found this quite funny since it carried off from the previous joke.

The next hit came during Jay's 'Headlines segment', when Jay showed a headline from a newspaper featuring a 'before' picture of a semi-muscular Caucasian and an 'after' picture of a very muscular African-American (implying that the product can change one's race in addition to one's muscles). Kevin, who happens to be African-American, immediately made a remark regarding the superiority of his (Kevin's) masculinity to Jay's. Jay, irritated, asked Kevin 'Can I get you a soft drink?', much to the delight of the audience and myself to know that the recurring joke would continue.

The final shot came from a later headline. Jay, after reading but not revealing it, simply said "Aww Kevin, here we go again." before showing the headline to the audience which read. "Free massage...with the purchase of a soft drink." This was a good once since it wasn't a joke made up by Jay or Kevin, it was already in the headline pile before the show started.

So overall, a series of jokes was what inspired all the lemonade jokes in the fanfic. I just thought that since we don't have an established personality for Brendan as we do for Ash or May, he'd be a good person to give the lemonade obsession to. I'm sure nobody figured out the origin of the jokes though. There's your answer to the... mystery?

* * *

**Rayquaza45: **Anyways, back to the end of this fanfic...

I want to thank all my prolific reviewers for the constant support as I updated this series. Even after my super-long 9 and 3/4 month period of no updates, they never stopped with encouragement whether it be a PM or thanking me after the series was finally update again. I wish I could name you all but there's a lot of you ;)

Once again, I'm going to thank Gerbilftw for all he's done. He'll say it's unnecessary (though he likes it anyways, I bet) but I still want to do it cause he's been such a help. Also my friend, I hope you now understand the lemonade jokes a little better since you seemed rather confused by them.

I'd like to let you all know that for a little while, I'll be working on my Haruhi Suzumiya-Kaicho wa Maid Sama crossover fic. It's the first of its kind on this website and I hope fans of those two series will check it out cause I've really been working on it. I have a great beta reader and she's a big help. Her name is momoxtoshiro and I suggest you check out her page cause she's quite a good writer.

After some time, I do have a fanfic that I'm going to post. It is a pokemon fanfic and it's kinda romance-based but I promise it won't be overly cheesy. I am not going to tell you the pairing or anything so feel free to guess (Gerbilftw, I request that you keep quiet ;)). Keep checking out my page for details cause I'll be dropping hints there before I actually post the chapter.

Well, **HAPPY NEW YEAR!** It's my personal favourite time of the year (is that weird?) and I hope your 2011 has been a good year and that 2012 will be even better.

Yeah, the new year has arrived. I hope you all had a good new years eve and partied hard with your buddies (cause parties with family just don't give you as much freedom).

Well, this author notes sections seems to be getting rather long so I am gonna begin ending it here.

So now 'MASTERS OF JOHTO' is truly at an end. I hope you guys will review now that everything is all over. All this time I've been begging you guys to review more but now, as the story finally ends, I'll only ask once again.

Please review.

So this is Rayquaza45, and I wish all of you the best! Work hard at whatever it is you do!

See you again in the future!


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